Ujungpandang Time
New low-powered cameras for USA’s
California Institute of Technology has patented a new camera technology to replace the current cameras on the insect-sized spy drones in the US military. Funded by NASA and Pentagon, these new micro-sized digital cameras using lesser energy, would be a revolutionary way to design the tiny surveillance drones of the military. The technology syncs all the components of a camera i.e. the sensors, circuits and microchips, on a single efficient chip, radio-controlled from about a km away and thus make for a better and effective low-power inclusion in the spy flyers.
Friday, 12 June 2009
mini spy drones
Monday, 8 June 2009
Robotic Fish
Monitoring Water Pollution With Robotic Fish
by Bridgette Steffen
Soon, the water in Gijon, a harbor in Northern Spain will be monitored by robotic, battery-powered fish. These mechanical, articulating sea creatures were designed and tested by the Robotics Department at the University of Essex. At a cost of $3.6 million, through a European Union grant, these fish will test the water for oxygen levels, detect oil slicks and other contaminants pumped into the water. This is the first monitoring program of it’s kind, and the retrieved data could be very important, with implications for global warming and the state of our water sources.
Researchers at Essex have been testing out their fish prototypes in a special tank at the London Aquarium since 2005. Visitors have been wowed by the incredible ability of the robots to move just like a fish does. As Rory Doyle, a researcher on the project, says, “The design of fish which nature has produced is a very energy-efficient one. The fish’s efficiency is created by hundreds of millions of years’ of evolution. Submarines come nowhere near it.” This efficiency in movement will allow the robot to have a longer battery life and collect more data.
The new robot fishes will be about 5 feet long, larger than the prototype version, in order to withstand greater pressures and currents. Each fish will cost about $28,000 to manufacture. At a speed of 1 meter per second, the robot will troll the water collecting data. An on board guidance system will keep them from bumping into obstacles, rocks, fish or ships. They even have a form of sonar that will allow the robots to communicate with each other.
When enough data has been collected, the robot fish will surface and transmit the data via a wireless signal to the port’s control center. Data from each fish will be used to create a 3-d map of pollution in the bay. When the robot is nearing the end of it’s battery charge, it will navigate back to a power hub to recharge.
Researchers expect to release the robots into the harbor in 18 months. No word yet on what the fish will look like, but don’t expect them to be the shiny specimens we’re showing here. The researchers say that appearances aren’t nearly as important as how they work. Check out this video to see the robot fish in motion.
+ Robotics Department at the University of Essex
via Huffington Post
Turbo electronic Gadgets
QNAP Turbo NAS TS-119 Electronic Gadgets
This is latest electronic gadgets are showing best conceptual technology and all future for this product is more conceptual because usable components for this product is more advance and show latest new look advance designing. And this QNAP has announced the world first and second disk to NAS in Turbo NAS TS-119 and TS-219. The newest generation of servers has all the features and reliability of your predecessors inherited, but represents themselves in a sophisticated black. This host is TS-119 and 219 compared to its predecessors in more than twice as fast performance regions. When you read are 60-70 MB / s possible, when writing 30-40 Megabyte / s. And the TS-219 with 2 HDDs is satisfied with 21 watts and support the Turbo NAS automatically time controlled switching on and shutting down. Both servers support 8 ISCSI target volumes in IP Filtering with Network Access Protection and surveillance station 2 IP cameras and Download Station Support Bit Torrent /FTP etc. Of course still versatile server features EG File and FTP servers or a web server with PHP and MySQL support. QNAP Turbo NAS TS-119 Electronic Gadgets are already familiar with the brand new and modern AJAX-based firmware version 3 (beta) shipped and customer can choose whether he known the 2.x version or the new 3.0 install.Electronics audio and navigation applications
This is electronic product and all working process is providing new advance concept and manufacturing acesserious is more advance, but this electronic product is not more expensive. And this new MCU from NEC Electronics presents the embedded World 2009 ideal for audio and navigation applications appropriate 32-bit microcontrollers with 1.5 MB integrated flash memory. And incumbent on the V850E1D based on six core components of V850E/SJ3-H- and the three derivatives of V850E/SK3-H-Serie also characterized by an over the S-Series MCU V850ES/SG3 and V850ES/SJ3 of 32 to 48 MHz clock frequency increase, which now have a computing power of up to 85 Dhrystone MIPS allowed. Another feature for use in high-performance car radios, CD and DVD systems, USB and SD card readers and digital terrestrial broadcasting systems optimized modules are integrated spread spectrum clock. Due to the significantly improved EMC performance, the development times and thus also reduce system development costs. Pin-and software of the eight UART, eight CSI-and six-channel I2C-equipped devices are backward compatible to the V850ES/SG3- and V850ES/SJ3-Bauelementen. Patterns of the new 32-bit microcontrollers are available immediately and the start of mass production is scheduled for November 2009. One of the reasons for the high acceptance by customers and suppliers is the early focus on a few advice-intensive products such as microcontrollers, programmable logic, displays and customer specific power supplies. The resulting deep technical know-how of our sales engineers and FAES allows us today to customers' requirements even complete redesign to the finished product into reality.Labels: audio, Electronics, MCU
Tune Belt Products for Nike + iPod Sport Kit
The Sport Armband features a hidden pocket to hold a key or money, a clear protective window cover , a cord management flap, and reflective materials. The case is washable and adjusts with a stretch Velcro armband to fit biceps 8″ - 17″.
And new Sensor Case is allowing the Sport Kit system to be used with nearly any shoe. It quickly and easily attaches around shoe laces to securely hold the sensor. The Sensor Case can be used with 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation nanos.
Both products are available immediately at $19.95 for Sport Armband and $7.95 for Sensor Case.
Fuel cell cars hit the road
Electric cars have been getting plenty of buzz lately, but the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is still going strong. The California Fuel Cell Partnership, along with Powertech Labs, National Hydrogen Association, and U.S. Fuel Cell Council, will seek to regain the spotlight with a road trip to demonstrate the practicality of these vehicles.
Twelve fuel cell cars from seven automakers will drive from Chula Vista, in Southern California, up to Vancouver, Canada, a trip of 1,700 miles. Vancouver was chosen for the destination because it will play host to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, where a fleet of fuel cell buses will provide transportation.
Fuel cell cars that will be making the trip include the Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell, Mercedes F-Cell, Honda FCX Clarity, Hyundai Tucson FCEV, Kia Borrego FCEV, Nissan X-Trail, Toyota FCHV-adv Highlander, and Volkswagen HyMotion. The cars, which have ranges of 200 to over 500 miles, will be relying on a mobile refueling station for their hydrogen needs.
The tour starts on May 26 in Chula Vista, and ends on June 3 in Vancouver. Stops have been scheduled along the route so the public can get a chance to see these cars.
Orange Power Pump
If you have plans to head off to a place where you know there won’t be a power outlet for miles anywhere, then might we suggest the Orange Power Pump to help your gadgets remain juiced up even when it rains (yeah, solar power can be a pain if it is particularly cloudy all day long). This device will feature a compact generator that has a turbine driven by a standard air bed foot pump. Instead of making sure your inflatable pillow is comfortable enough to sleep on, why not use that time to generate enough juice for your cell phone to make a call to the nearest pizza delivery outlet? After all, the urban geek isn’t exactly well equipped to handle grizzly bears and deer hunting.
Orange Tabbee Wi-Fi Internet Tablet
April 5, 2009
The Orange Tabbee, the new Wi-Fi internet tablet to hit back at O2’s Joggler, is not restricted to desk usage in serving as a true tablet device complete with docking cradle - which also serves to charge the device - and as well as offering internet access to allow for basic browsing or access to news, weather, traffic, stocks, etc information (no word as to whether it supports RSS feeds - we assume it does) whilst also offering broad multimedia support allowing the device to show videos, play digital audio and even act in the capacity of a digital photo frame (loading media from SD memory cards or via USB flash drives thanks to its built-in SD and USB slots).
On and above the capabilities outlined above, the Orange Tabbee is also billed as offering a number of family friendly features such as message board functionality which will serve rather nicely as a sort of digital post-it note (especially handy to remind the cat to feed the husband whilst you’re out).
The Orange Tablee is set to become available to Orange customers in France in Q2 of this year for around 300 Euros (roughly $402) though, at the time of writing, Orange are yet to confirm any specific release details with respect to the UK market.
Kyocera Unveils Kinetic Flexible OLED Cell Phone
by Ariel Schwartz
Charting the future of cell phone technology, Kyocera recently unveiled a kinetic energy-powered phone that is capable of folding up like a wallet. Designed by industrial designer Susan McKinney, the EOS phone consists of a soft, semi-rigid polymer skin surrounding a flexible low-energy OLED display. Shape memory allows the phone’s keys to pop up when in use and blend in with the surface during downtime.
The Kyocera EOS can be used in its folded-up shape for simple phone calls, unfolds to reveal a wide screen, and we were excited to hear that the it derives its energy from human interaction. The more you use the phone, the more kinetic energy is turned into an electric charge through an array of tiny piezoelectric generators. In other words, you’ll never have to worry about leaving the house with a semi-charged cell phone again.
The EOS is still in the early design stage, but Kyocera teams in San Diego and Bangalore hope to integrate concepts from the device into cell phone lineups in the near future. Maybe future versions of the EOS will follow Samsung and LG’s lead and use solar power in addition to kinetic energy.
Thursday, 4 June 2009
Best Cities For Clean Tech
The past ten or so years haven't been great for environmentalists. Climatologist predict imminent global cataclysm unless we sharply reduce carbon emissions, but the federal government doesn't seem to care. When given the chance to sign the Kyoto Protocols and pledge to reduce greenhouse gases, Bush was like, "Nah," and refused to ratify it. Just about every other nation on earth, of course, signed off.
But that didn't stop America's plucky city mayors, who, in 2005, with true DIY spirit, put together their own agreement to cut emissions, by offering companies tax credits for creating low-emissions businesses, changing municipal transportation systems and local zoning laws. It's called the U.S. Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement, and it seems to be working, too. As mayor of SteveopolisLOL in Sim City 2000, I'm a proud signatory. Non- imaginary cities in every state in the country have at least paid lip service to encouraging a better earth too, but in some, the Clean Tech industry is flourishing. Below are the seven best cities for clean technology, according to earth2tech.com:
My two favorite American cities, Detroit, Michigan and Tampa, Florida have signed the agreement, but did not make the list, so it's not like agreeing to think about the environment instantly brings jobs and clean air, especially if your city is not so much an on-the-grow municipal center as a horror-ravaged, blighted hellscape.
But seriously, the Mayor's list and the reported success of the Eco-tech programs in the above places indicates that living a high-tech lifestyle and working to sustain the planet aren't mutually exclusive. Technological advances at the kinds of businesses this initiative supports might eventually be the only thing standing between us an environmental disaster. Of course, we're probably just buying time until an alien and/or robot army enslaves us all and forces us to work in outer space diamond mines.
Read more: "Video Game News, Geek Stuff & Gadgets - The Feed at G4tv.com" - http://e3.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/page28.html#695773#ixzz0HSvPPj5C&A
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
BLUERAY
You are the proud owner of a huge capacity hard disk. One terrabyte would be enough for you. But what do you do when you want to take some music, films or games and carry them easily from one place to another? Are you going to get that fragile new HDD of yours out of the PC and put it back in each time you want to transport data? Hell no! You got CDs & CO. for all these transport-involving situations. Right, so today, we are going to analyze a bit these storage media and the optical drives that allow you to read and write data on them.
Discs flying all over
First of all, let us see what a CD is. A Compact Disk (CD) is a storage medium primarily composed of Polycarbonate - a transparent hard plastic - onto which additional incredibly thin layers of metal and plastic are added to reflect laser light and protect the data surface of the CD. Wait a minute, did I say laser there? That's right, CDs are read and written with the help of a laser lens assembly.
Now you probably are more familiar with music CDs. These are, after all, the first type that appeared on the market. These music CDs are also known as "stamped CDs" and are produced by injection-molding the polycarbonate plastic into a die which contains a tiny pattern of raised bumps along the surface. These bumps ('pits'), and the flat areas between them ('lands') are the means by which the data is read from the finished CD by a concentrated laser. The surface is then coated by a thin layer of metal (usually silver or aluminum) to provide a reflective surface on the 'top' of the disk (the label side) so that light can be reflected back through the reading side of the CD. A thin layer of plastic tops this metal layer, followed by the label, silk-screened onto the top.
PC CDs (CD-ROM) have to work digitally. In this case, if the laser shines onto one of the molded bumps, which as the CD is read from the bottom, appear as 'pits,' it will be reflected at an angle and not picked up by the sensor. The laser inside a PC optical drive has to be precisely synchronized with the speed at which the CD spins, and thus, as the laser moves over the surface of the CD, the internal hardware calculates positive reflections as values of '1' and non-reflections as values of '0.' Keep in mind that Data on a CD is stored on concentric, spiral-like tracks.
CD-R disks, or recordable CDs, work in a similar way, with one major exception. Being blank until imprinted with data, they are not 'stamped' or injection-molded by default. Rather, a thin layer of dye is added between the polycarbonate and the reflective metal layer. The CD writer drive has a moving laser assembly, just like an ordinary CD player. But in addition to the standard "read laser," it features a "write laser." The write laser is more powerful than the read laser, so it interacts with the disc differently: the disc dye is completely clear until the more powerful writing laser of a CD-R drive is used to darken it, covering the reflective metal underneath. By selectively darkening minuscule sections of this dye layer, a reflective/non-reflective pattern is created which can be read in exactly the same fashion as a conventional non-recordable CDs.
CD-RW disks, or rewritable CDs which allow you to write, delete and rewrite data, use yet another system. In place of the dye layer used by recordable CDs, they use a special compound which reacts to the various levels of heat provided by the 'write' or 'erase' lasers of a CD-RW drive. When activated, the dye becomes crystalline and transparent/melted (default state) or amorphous and non-reflective (when heated by the 'write' laser). The melted, non-crystalline areas signify a binary '0' while the crystalline, transparent areas allow the read laser to reflect off the metal underneath and signify a binary '1.' Unlike recordable CDs, whose dye layer cannot be reused once it has been written to, passing a laser over the CD-RW surface at a certain intensity will cause the melted compound to retake its crystalline form and regain its transparency, effectively erasing all the data on the disk.
CD-Rs and CD-RWs are easily available in 650MB/74min and 700MB/80min sizes, and they can achieve transfer rates of around 7 MB/s. These transfer rates can only be achieved at the highest read/write speeds, which, for CDs is of 52X.
DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs) are considered to be the direct successors of the CDs and are formed using a similar process to 'stamped' CDs, except that multiple thin layers of polycarbonate are molded, one for each data 'layer' of the disk. A DVD can have up to two layers on each side of the disk, for a total of four. In order to read multiple tracks on a single side, the DVD incorporates a semi-transparent gold film as the reflective material for the first layer of data on a two-layer DVD, while the second one is a fully reflective aluminum layer. In this way, the reading laser can be modulated to pass through or reflect from the gold layer, depending on whether data from the first or second layer is desired. The tracks of data on a DVD are considerably smaller and tighter packed than on a CD however, enabling DVDs with a considerably higher data capacity.
Recordable DVDs (DVD-R) can have only a single data layer on each side of the disk, making for capacities of 4.7 GB single sided and 9.4 GB double sided. The maximum data transfer rate is situated around 20 MB/s, achieved at speeds of 16X (or improved transfer rates at newly-introduced 20X speeds). DVD-R disks can be played back on most commercial DVD players and drives.
A little bit of history
The current CDs have suffered some modifications over the course of the years. A series of technology guidelines, called 'books' were made available to guide the way CDs handle the storage of data and deal with compatibility issues. The most representative 'books' were:
Red Book - 1980 - the inauguration of the audio CD standard. It allowed for 74 minutes of digital audio and up to 99 tracks per CD.
Yellow Book - 1983 - this is an extension of the Redbook standard to cover the use of CDs as a data storage medium (CD-ROM).
Orange Book - 1988 - this is an update for the Yellow Book standard, which introduced writable CDs (CD-Rs). It was later revised to allow multiple 'sessions' per disk each with its own table of contents, meaning that the entire disk did not have to be written at one time. This is known as multi-session writing.
Wait, table of contents? CDs are like common books? Well, not quite. Like any other method of mass storage, writeable CDs need a file-system to arrange the data that is written to them. Given the relatively rigid nature of writing to CD as opposed to a hard-disk drive, where any section can be written to or written over at will, data CDs have no need for a constantly updated catalog of the contents of the disk. Rather, they need a simple table of contents to guide the reading device. The most common tables of contents are ISO 9660 and UDF.
The next generation is here
CDs and DVDs can store quite a bit of data, but with ever increasing storage needs they have become obsolete. Industry giants understood this situation and designed a couple of storage media that would allow for improved capacities.
- HD-DVD - was designed by Toshiba to be the direct successor to the DVD format and can store roughly 3-4 times the amount of data as its predecessor. The additional capacity of HD DVD is targeted at high definition content. HD DVD has a capacity of 15 GB per layer, practically sharing the same basic disc structure as a standard DVD: back-to-back bonding of two 0.6 mm thick, 120 mm diameter substrates. The 30 GB dual-layer HD-DVDs are currently being promoted on the market, in hope that they will be embraced as the next standard.
- Blu-Ray Disc - the name "Blu-ray" is derived from the blue-violet laser used to read and write this type of disc. The blue-violets laser has shorter wavelength (405 nm) and this allows more data to be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on the common DVD format, which uses a red, 650 nm laser. In comparison to HD DVD, which also uses a blue laser, Blu-ray Discs can store more data per layer (currently 25 GB, but test media is up to 33 GB). Sony is the creator of this format and, up to this date, 50 GB Blu-Ray discs are the proposed standard. As with the HD-DVD disc, the Blu-Ray disc is currently used to store high-definition movies. At 1.5X speed, this type of medium achieves transfer rates of 54 MB/s.
- Holographic discs - also known as Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD), is an optical disc technology still in development stage which is demonstrated to greatly increase storage over Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD optical disc systems. This technology makes use of collinear holography allowing two lasers, one red and one blue-green, to be merged into a single beam. The blue-green laser reads data encoded as laser interference fringes from a holographic layer near the top of the disc, while the red laser is considered to be the reference beam, reading servo information from a regular CD-style aluminum layer situated at the bottom. The additional servo information is used to monitor the position of the read head over the disc, making it similar to the head/track/sector information on a conventional. Remember that, on a CD or DVD, the servo information is distributed amongst data.
In addition to the two layers mentioned above, a dichroic mirror layer between the holographic data and the servo data reflects the blue-green laser while letting the red laser pass through. Current holographic discs are said to have storage capacities of up to 3.9 terrabytes of data, which is approximately 6,000 times the capacity of a CD-ROM, 830 times the capacity of a DVD, 160 times the capacity of single-layer Blu-ray Discs, and about 20 times the capacity of standard computer hard drives as of 2006. The future 1 TB HVD will achieve transfer rates of about 1GB/s, while current proposed HVDs can store up to 300 GB and achieve a minimum transfer rate of 30 MB/s.
I think this is enough for the basics of optical drives and storage media. Tomorrow we will analyze the computer power supply so stay tuned.
Monday, 1 June 2009
PHONE CELL
Samsung Pixon12 (M8910) 12MP Camera Phone
Coming with full-touch 3.1-inch AMOLED screen, the new Samsung Pixon12 (M8910) phone is mentioned as the world’s first 12-megapixel camera phone with full-touch screen. What about Sony Ericsson Satio full touch phone which also boasts 12.1 MP built-in camera? Whose comes first?. The Pixon12’s screen has a contrast ratio of 10,000:1 which also consumes less power. This phone also allows users to upload their picture and videos to popular social networking sites such as Facebook. No wrods yet on pricing, but it should be available from end of June in Europe.
LG GT505 Phone with GPS and Push Alert
Announced together with the LG GW520, the LG GT505 also offers push social networking updates allowing consumers to receive alerts from multiple social network sites as they are posted. It also supports push email for personal accounts and has Microsoft Exchange ActiveSyncfor business accounts. Expected to be available in June through Orange network, the GT505 comes preloaded with a 30-day free trial of WisePilotfor LG, a turn-by-turn navigation solution, which offers voice instruction and a choice of 2D and 3D mapping.
LG GW520 Phone for Social Networking
The new LG GW520 Phone is mentioned as a social networking device that comes with push updates from social networking sites and both business and personal email. But I’m not clear what social networking they mean, is it facebook and alike?. Highlights: 2.8″ full touchscreen, Full slide-out QWERTY keypad, Push email via Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, HSPDA 7.2, 3G enabled, WAP 2.0 browser, 3-megapixel camera. LG GW520 should be available this month (June 2009).
Sony Ericsson Satio
Planned to ship in early Q4, the new Sony Ericsson Satio has screen 0.5″ wider than Aino. And its built-in camera boasts 12.1 megapixel with intuitive touch focus, Xenon flash and face and smile detection. The Satio enable users to access to all your media in one place and to download exciting music, movies and games from PlayNow™ arena. Highlights: Web albums with messages, Intuitive full touch media menu, and Music player.
Sony Ericsson Aino Multimedia Phone
Coming with 3″ touchscreen (240 x 432 pixels), the new Sony Ericsson Aino is still hard to leave the traditional keypad. The Aino allows users to wirelessly access PS3’s media content including the PlayTV service. It also comes with Media Home, an application that pulls media content from Media Go™ on your PC over Wi-Fi™ to your phone automatically. Working on GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSPA 850/1900/2100, the Aino also equipped with Wireless Stereo Headphone MH100 and Charging Stand EC100. It’s expected to hit the stores from early Q4.
Written in Italian, I have translated all the words in the poster above using Goggle translate and the result is: “Have the pleasure to invite the press conference presentation of the new Giorgio Armani cell phone Samsung, Thursday June 11 2009 11.30″. Any question? I don’t think so. it’s clear that Samsung to announced its latest fashionable Giorgio Armani WnMo smartphone on the mentioned date….
Mentioned as the ultimate phone for mobile fun, the new Sony Ericsson Yari offers various game to play using gesture gaming technology. Scheduled to ship in Q4, the Yari also comes with Gaming carousel that allows users to access their games from the desktop and to browse downloadable content on PlayNow™ arena. In addition the gesture games, the Yari also support motion and standard games of course. Other highlights: A/B buttons, Music call, 5.0 mega pixel camera, EC500 phone stand, GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSDPA 900/2100 support.
Super Yacht
Designed by Norman Foster, the YacthPlus’s new super-yacht comes with a strong emphasis on space and light. The yacht has five suites for up to 12 guests and its internal planning offers total flexibility. And strong attention has been paid to design and detail ranging from the internal (2,790sqft) and external (2,495sqft) areas to cutlery, crockery, fabrics and crew uniforms.
Ocean Emerald will be the first of four identical Norman Foster designed super-yachts to be launched by the company over the next two years. The second yacht, Ocean Pearl will enter service in the autumn 2009 and the third, Ocean sapphire in the early part of 2010. The fourth yacht, as yet unnamed is scheduled to launch in the latter part of 2010.
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