‏إظهار الرسائل ذات التسميات technology. إظهار كافة الرسائل
‏إظهار الرسائل ذات التسميات technology. إظهار كافة الرسائل

الاثنين، 16 مايو 2016

Google to Face a Record $3.4 Billion AntiTrust Fine in Europe




Google faces a record anti-trust penalty of about 3 BILLION Euros (US$3.4 Billion) from the European Commission in the coming days, according to reports.

After 7-years of the investigation, the European Commission filed anti-trust charges against Google last year for violating antitrust laws.

The European Union accused the search engine giant that it had abused its dominance

الأربعاء، 3 فبراير 2016

Here's Why Microsoft Drops a Cloud Data Center Under the Ocean





Where tech companies like Facebook and Google prefer to move their data centers to colder countries to reduce their air conditioning bill, Microsoft has come up with an even better home for data centers while cutting high energy costs for cooling them: Under the Sea.



Here's what Microsoft says:



"50% of us live near the coast. Why doesn't our data?"



Building massive data centers

الأربعاء، 7 أكتوبر 2015

This Secure Operating System Can Protect You Even if You Get Hacked





Hackers, Government Agencies and sophisticated malware, are collecting every piece of Digital data that we transmit through our Computers, Smartphones or Internet-enabled Gadgets.



No matter how secure you think you might be, something malicious can always happen. Because, "With the right tools and Talent, a Computer is an open book."



Many people ask, How to stay safe and secure online?

الجمعة، 25 سبتمبر 2015

NeoKylin: China's Linux OS that Seriously Looks Like Windows XP





Do You Know: China has planned to eliminate all foreign Technologies and Services by 2020, just like Google and Facebook.

And it seems China in some years would be an entirely independent IT economy; building homegrown Mobile and computer devices, Operating Systems, Applications, Browsers and almost everything existing in the IT ecosystem.



Well, China was not at all happy when Microsoft

الجمعة، 4 سبتمبر 2015

Twitter Open Sources 'Diffy' that Automatically Catches Potential Bugs in Code





After, Facebook open sourced Thrift Technology (an internally used tool by Facebook) in 2007, rival entity Twitter brings Diffy, an internal Twitter service to the world.



Yesterday, Twitter introduced "Diffy," an open source tool, acting as a helping hand for the software developers to catch bugs, test and compare results without writing much code.



Diffy plays a vital part in Twitter's

Caution! Hackers Can Easily Hijack Popular Baby Monitors to Watch Your Kids





Several video baby monitors from six different manufacturers were under scrutiny for in-depth security testing, and the outcome was negative.



Yes, they lacked in serving basic security through their devices.



At the High Technology Crime Investigation Association (HTCIA) conference on September 2, 2015, a critical security research was made public by Rapid7 after following a disclosure

الجمعة، 7 أغسطس 2015

Microsoft Open-Sources Tool for Porting iOS Apps to Windows





At its Build developers conference in April this year, Microsoft announced "Project Islandwood" - the "Windows Bridge for iOS" that lets iOS and Android developers port their apps to Windows.



Microsoft finally made another surprise move on Thursday by open sourcing an early version of its toolkit for iOS to help iOS developers move their apps more easily to Windows 10.



The source code

الثلاثاء، 28 يوليو 2015

Car Hack Uses Digital-Radio Broadcasts to Seize Control

Car

Car Infotainment System Vulnerable to Hack Attack

According to a leading security company, most of the car infotainment systems tend to become vulnerable to a hack attack which could probably put many lives at risk. NCC Group had stated that the activity could be utilised in taking control of a vehicle’s brakes as well as the other critical systems.

BBC had been informed by the Manchester based company that it had generated a way of carrying out the attacks by sending data through digital audio broadcasting – DAB, radio signals. This coincides with news of a related flaw by two US researchers. Chris Valasek and Charlie Miller had shown Wired magazine how control is overtaken of a Jeep Cherokee car by sending data to its internet connected entertainment as well as navigation system through a mobile phone network.

Chrysler has also released a patch to address the problem but NCC’s work that has been limited to its lab indicated a broader issue. UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders have replied stating that the car companies, `invest billions of pounds to keep vehicles secure as possible’.

Infotainment Systems Process DAB Data for Text & Pictures - Dashboard

Part of its technique had been demonstrated by NCC to BBC Radio 4’s PM programme at its office in Cheltenham. Andy Davis, the company’s research director had used relatively cheap off-the-shelf gears that were connected to a laptop and created a DAB station. Since infotainment systems process DAB data in displaying text and pictures on car dashboard screens, an attacker could send code which could enable them take over the system and once the infotainment has compromised, an attacker could possibly utilise it as a means of controlling more critical system which could include the steering as well as the braking.

Based on the power of the transmitter, Davis states that a DAB broadcast could enable attacker in affecting several cars at once. He further added that `as this is a broadcast medium and if there is vulnerability in a particular infotainment system in a specific manufacturer’s vehicle, on sending one stream of data, one could attack several cars at the same time. An assailant could perhaps even choose a common radio station in broadcasting over the top of, to ensure that they have reached the maximum number of target vehicles’

Modern Cars – Computer Networks on Wheel

Mr Davis had refrained from publicly identifying which of the specific infotainment system he had hacked at that point. Modern cars, in several ways are computer networks on wheel. Mike Parris of SBD, which is another company that concentrates in vehicle security, stated that modern cars usually comprises of 50 interlinked computers that run more than 50 million lines of code and that by contrast, Davis had commented that a modern airliner has around 14 million lines of code.

Such a kind of technology enables the latest cars to carry out automatic tactics, for instance, a driver could make the vehicleparkparallel at the touch of a button.He also said that he had faked his DAB based attack only on an equipment in his company’s buildings since it would have been illegal as well as unsafe in doing so in the outside world.

However he added that he had earlier compromised a real vehicle’s automatic braking system which had been designed in order to prevent it from crashing into the car before it, by modifying an infotainment system which he believed could have been duplicated through a DAB broadcast.

Polite Robots Show Glimmer of Self-Awareness


Robot
From past many years we are using robots and now they have many advance technologies as well as artificial intelligence as what we have seen in movies such as; Ex Machina, I-Robot, Surrogate mother, Her and more. But this time three robots have solved a classic philosophical problem to showcase its glimmer of self-consciousness. To do extremely novel experiment these particular trios of robot are composed of three old Nao models and the result were also amazing.

These robots were programmed to think, however two of them have taken the dumbing pill and because of that they were unable to speak (as per technology its only button which have make them silent). But during the experiment researchers were not aware that exactly which two of them had been silenced. And at the end when robots asked to answer that which two had taken the dumbing pill, so all of them tried to respond with a statement that “I don’t Know”.

And since then only one is able to speak the words and it heard as well as recognized its own voice which proves that it was not among the two who had been silenced. After that robot responded, “Sorry and now I know the answer who has taken the dumbing pill and it was not me because now I can speak”. In the entire experiment, not only Nao bots were polite, but also they need give test to accomplish very simple type of self awareness. But all the three robots must be able to get the question as well as they should also be able to recognize their own voice. And they must be able to understand that there are able to speak and they are not among those robots who have received the dumbing pills.

However; the entire test was on the basis of variation with induction puzzle known as; The King's Wise Men. In the scenario of puzzle king have to select the wisest men for new the position of advisor and to do that he invited three wisest men into his court where king was about to conduct fair contest. He asked all the three men to put their white or blue hat on their heads, but they will be not able to see the color of hat. And later kind told them that at-least one of them is wearing the blue hat and whoever; will tell the name of person who is wearing blue hat will be the wise man. In realty, the solution is that they all are wearing the blue hat.

Selmer Bringsjord, who is professor at the (RPI) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York conduct the test on robots where he was working on developing the artificial intelligence systems on the basis of computational logic, however; later his work published at RO-MAN, which is artificial and robotics consciousness conference in Japan. Current, these of this conference is ‘Interaction with Socially Embedded Robots’ and the duration of the conference is August 31 2015 to September 4, 2015.

الاثنين، 27 يوليو 2015

Radio Telescope Project Array Pathfinder Picks Up Ancient Signal

ASKAP
Colin Murty

WA radio telescope project picked up signal – Solar System

The Square Kilometre ArraySKA, is a radio telescope project to be built in Australia and South Africa andwill have a total collecting area of around one square kilometre and operate over a huge range of frequencies. Its size will make it fifty times more sensitive from other radio instruments and would be needing a very high performance central computing engines with long haul connections having a capacity that would be more than the current global Internet traffic.

It will also be capable of surveying the sky ten thousand times faster than its earlier performance. The receiving stations spreading out to distance of around 3,000 kilometres from a concentrated central core will achieve the ability of radio astronomy to provide the highest resolution images in astronomy.

 The SKA will be built towards the southern hemisphere in sub-Saharan States with cores in South Africa and Australia, where the sight of the Milky Way Galaxy is greatest and radio interference the least. An innovative radio telescope project in remote Western Australia has picked up signal released before the solar system was born. Six from the 36 dishes of the Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder project, that are located 300 km inland from Geraldton, have captured a wisp of cosmic radio waves that have come from the galaxy PKS B1740-517 towards the southern constellation of Ara.

ASKAP – Detect Galaxies

The latest discovery has astronomers dribbling since the five-billion year old signal which portrays ASKAP, will be capable of detecting galaxies which other telescopes may not be capable of doing so. The signal tends to carry the `imprint’ of cold hydrogen gas, which is the raw material in forming stars and plenty in most galaxies which is passed through on its way here.

Astronomers are capable of detecting a galaxy from its hydrogen gas although its starlight is faint or if hidden by dust. Though it is very miniature, the signal stood our clearly in the ASKAP data. James Allison, research leader of the CSIRO comments that `this catch shows that they are going to bag a big haul of galaxies’.

While several radio telescopes are considered to be bedevilled due to radio interference, unwanted signals which muddle up the spectrum, the ASKAP site is skilfully radio quiet. ASKAP provides astronomers with a huge `net’ to search for signals, a 300 MHz wild chunk of radio spectrum for searching. Dr Allison states that there is more than what most telescopes have and it gives them a better chance in finding something new.

ASKAP Survey Focused in Detecting Galaxies

On the other hand, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Sydney, Elaine Sadler, together with a member of the research team, intends a large ASKAP survey focused in detecting several hundred galaxies. She comments that ASKAP looks at a relatively unexplored section of the radio spectrum, 700 to 1800 megahertz, which means that they will be capable of detecting hydrogen gas deeper into space due to ASKAP’s wide field of view over a much large volume than before.

 They would be hunting for galaxies which are 5 to 8 billion years old which is a timespan that represents a fifth of the history of the universe. Galaxies were making stars around ten times quicker than they did now, some ten billion years ago. On researching on galaxies five to eight billion year old, astronomers expect to comprehend why the rate has reduced.

Professor Sadler states that they want to learn how much hydrogen galaxies had in this period for the formation of stars and till now they had few tools in doing so. The Square Kilometre Array would be 50 times much more sensitive as the best prevailing radio telescopes, comprising of thousands of connected antennas spanning WA as well as South Arica.

Sony Bravia W950c: Impressive First Look



Sony_Bravia_W950c
At the beginning of this year, Google had announced its aim of working with major manufacturers to bring Android TV to the consumers. Sony being one of the partners had successfully developed and launched its range of new Android TVs based on the Google’s Android TV Platform in India.

One of a kind Android TV experience

Sony Bravia W950c is an elite Android TV in Sony’s latest range of smart TV with 13 distinct models to choose from. This Android TV greets the users with the familiar Android boot up screen flowed by text logo and comes with the latest Android 5.0.2 version. The interface is extremely pleasant and looks elegant and similar to any other Android interface.

Impressive looks and design

Sony Bravia W950c is extremely slim at 12.6 mm for the most of parts except the rear center bottom portion, which houses connectivity ports. TV possesses matte finish at the sides and bezels, which lend a superior look to the whole design.

Well-defined display

Sony Bravia W950c has a large screen of 50 inches with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. It is one of the best displays available in the televisions across all the manufacturers. Sony has incorporated its latest X-Reality Pro picture engine coupled with the successful TRILUMINOS display technology. The amalgamation of these two-advanced technology results in the rendering of superiors colors, high definition clarity and much needed noise reduction, which results amazing viewing experience. The viewing angles are excellent and show vibrant colors as well as do not possess any motion blur at all.

Better connectivity options

Sony has cleverly included a variety of ports in the slim design of Bravia W950c. There are 4 HDMI ports available with one having MHL availability along with dual USB ports, Ethernet cable port and output ports for audio and headphones. It even features a built in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for better connectivity solutions. These best connectivity feature integrated in this television is the presence of built-in Google Cast which allows the users to stream as well as mirror contents directly from the Smartphone.

Do more with Android TV

Sony has almost integrated all the features available at its disposal to give a wholesome experience to its users. Sony Bravia W950c comes loaded with Android TV ON TOP OF Bravia UX, which offers a highly intuitive and simpler user interface. There are large thumbnails which bring better view and navigation of interface is smooth and sublime. Sony gives 16GB storage out of which 8 GB is available for the users to download more apps.

All the downloaded apps and installed games can be seen in the main window itself. There is Opera browser app present to facilitate the web surfing. The animations, interface, navigation and design are impressive and don’t lag at all.

Soothing audio output

Sony has integrated a soundbar style woofer, which brings out crystal clear and ambient sound quality which remains round and clear all the time. Sony has also given dual sub-woofers, which offer impressive bass levels making multimedia consumption superior on this television.

الأحد، 26 يوليو 2015

Windows 10 Home vs Pro: Which One Should You Get?


Windows
For the first time in history, Microsoft is launching its most beloved operating system Windows for free. The eagerly awaited and most hyped Windows 10 will be releasing on 29th July which is in less than a week. Unlike the earlier versions such as fan favorite Windows 7 and not so successful Windows 8, Windows 10 will be launching in seven different versions.

More versions means better usability

Microsoft is all set to give more choices to the consumers with the availability of seven different versions with Windows 10. Each version has its own set of mixes and features targeted at providing excellent functionality to different kind of users. These versions are Windows 10 Home, Pro, Education, Enterprise, Mobile, Mobile Enterprise and IoT Core.

The difference can be asserted with the fact a gamer oriented OS has to be widely different from the one to be used in the IT firms. Hence Microsoft is releasing so many versions to directly answer the needs and requirements of the consumers.

However the common users will just need to choose from the Windows 10 Home and Windows Pro version.

Which versions are you entitles to?

The upgrading of your existing Windows OS to either Windows 10 Home or Pro version essentially depends upon the OS you are using at the moment. Users who have Windows 8.1, Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic or Home Premium on their PC will be entitled to upgrade to Windows 10 Home.

On other hand users who are running Windows 8.1 Pro, Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate will have the opportunity to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro version.

The difference between the Windows 10 Home and Pro versions

As the name suggests Windows 10 Home comes loaded with basic of the new OS coupled with a wide number of interactive features and new advancements. Microsoft has brought some new exciting features in its new OS with Cortana which acts are virtual assistant and an advanced AI usually seen on Windows Smartphones.

The Classic Start Menu has been restored along with the emergence of new Edge web browser, which eliminated the Internet Explorer. This OS is best suited for the home computers, which only require simple features and are not meant to be used for rigorous and advanced tasks.

Windows 10 Pro versions keep all the existing features of the Home version along with adding some substantially enhanced features. These features include the data encryption tools, a remote desktop supports and other exciting tools for small business users.
Smartphone users can upgrade to Windows 10 Mobile
Another version of Windows 10, which is worth considering is Mobile version. The consumers who are using Windows 8 based Smartphones can upgrade their device to Windows 10 Mobile for free. This new OS is expected to revolutionalize the way smartphones are used by providing them with more advanced features and functionalities.

Consumers can upgrade their existing Windows OS to Windows 10 from July 29. This will remain for free down for one year after which consumers will be required to purchase like old days. It is high time you start upgrading your existing OS and move into the world of new opportunities with Windows 10 OS.

Electric Planes Usher in the Second Great Age of Aviation

Electric_Plane

Since the beginning of the year 2015, a rapid advancement has been made in the field of aviation through electric planes. The new breed of electric plane pilots is much more focused inspired and determined to stretch the boundaries in every manner possible with new electric propulsion system.

In July this year one such pilot name Hugues Duval successfully landed his tiny electric plane cleverly christened Cri-Cri in Calais France. This tiny electric plane flew over the English Channel and came back again which demonstrates the potential of new era electric plane in an astounding manner. This feat even reminds the greatest moment in the aviation history when the very first plane successfully crossed the English Channel way back in 1909.

Electric flights growing in number over the years

The flying of electric planes intent towards breaking into avenues and creating records isn’t new in itself. Electric planes flying in the sky is rather an unregulated corner of the aviation sector where a large number of ambitious plane builders and extremely brave pilots are making their foray. These determined individuals whom some term as skyward dreamers had certainly invented a new age of aviation, which seeks to provide a healthy way commuting in future without further damaging our dear planet Earth.

The earliest example of electric plane and today’s advancement

The earliest flight of an electric plane can be traced back to 1973 West Germany where plane builders worked towards flying planes with the help of batteries. The energy density and outburst of potential energy for flying the planes is still short of the gasoline based planes today. Even the most advanced electric plane at the moment can get easily outperformed by the fuel-powered planes in terms of power capacity as well as speed.

But electric planes offer a great room for further growth and advancement which is a good sign. The essential component for developing an electric plane such as batteries and others are becoming more affordable with technological advancement. This means that in upcoming days we will be able to see more exciting electric plane with more power and capabilities.

Some of Smart and Efficient Electric Planes

Elektra One Solar has produced a remarkable flight capability by flying from Germany to two Austrian airports and coming back on June 25. It is a single seater solar powered electric plane, which has shown that with solar power one can easily span a couple of hundred miles by staying at an altitude of over 10,000 feet.
Another solar powered electric plane named Solar Impulse made a sensational flight of 118 hours wherein it covered 4,500 miles from Japan and landed successfully in Hawaii on July 3. Incidentally this flight’s epic ocean crossing caused damage to its batteries which has resulted in keeping its round the world journey on hold.

However, the most thrilling moment of this year’s remarkable electric plane flight is the one carried on in Cri-Cri plane. In this flight, the pilot Duval has put his trust upon a plane to cross over thousands of miles of frigid water.

NASA Wi-Fi Chip Reflects Wi-Fi and Save Your Smartphone Battery

NASA_Wi-Fi
In the modern world consumers usually rely on the wireless communications for various reasons. The nexus between the phones, computers and the wearable devices with the Wi-Fi devices results in the creation of a wireless network. NASA has developed a Wi-Fi, which can be used in the mobile electronics to enhance their potential in receiving signal without losing out anything at the power front.

The problems faced during this chip invention

The major challenge faced by the researchers while developing this wearable device is the reflecting of signals by other components as physical things such as walls, ceiling, floors and others. This chip has to be given the ability to distinguish between the real Wi-Fi signal and the continuous refection coming from the background.

In order to overcome these background reflections has developed a core wireless silicon chip, which can constantly sense and suppress the background reflection in a more advanced fashion. It can keep the Wi-Fi signal transmitting without any kind of interference coming from the surrounding objects.

The researchers had successfully tested this enhanced system at distances measuring up to 20 feet (6 feet). By reaching at 8 feet this system possesses a data transfer rate of astonishing 330 megabits per second. This data transfer rate happened to be three time much more than the current Wi-Fi rate and this system used astonishing thousand times lesser than the power, which a regular Wi-Fi link uses in general.

A technologist had heaped praise on this system and had claimed that one can send a video in just a matter of seconds without consuming any energy from the wearable device. It should be noted that it is the transmitter, which expends the energy in the environment not the watch or any other wearable.

How this technology will work in real world environment

This technology requires a base station and a Wi-Fi service for efficient working. In order to compensate the lower power drainage on the wearable devices, it is essential that the computer or any other technology working with it possess rather a longer battery life. The best resort will be to keep it plugged it for once and all. This will mean that the router will use more power outages than before. At the moment researchers are working aggressively to find a perfect solution for this problem.

The potential of this remarkable technology

This technology shows enough potential to be used not just in the consumer products sectors but also in other sectors such as robotics and aircraft as well as aerospace engineering.

Aerospace will be benefitted with this technology as it will much better ways to transmit the images at a lower costs than the present devices at disposal. Even sending more than one images at a given time will become feasible with this technology.

Currently NASA and UCLA are in talks with the commercial partner with an aim of bringing this remarkable technology to the common users and even bring in a new revolution in the field of communication.

السبت، 25 يوليو 2015

The Turing Phone is Built to be Unhackable and Unbreakable

Turing_Phone
 

 

Turing Phone – Unique Smartphone, Unhackable/Unbreakable

Smartphones are being utilised for several private tasks like transferring money to sending private photos as well as documents. A company has now developed what it claims is an unhackable as well as unbreakable handset called the `Turing Phone’ and the Android handset provides protected communications network `keeping private information private’ and supports cryptocurrency which hopefully could someday rival Bitcoin.
Engineers have created the unique smartphone which is unhackable and has been built from a special type of metal which tends to be much stronger than titanium and steel thus making it unbreakable. The Turning Phone as it is called is a smartphone with end to end encryption that is built in most of the core apps on the phone. Developed by San Francisco based Turing Robotic Industries, users can activate the Turning phone through a fingerprint reader on the side of the device, according to Wired.com reports.

The smartphone which is a 5.5 inch phone has no USB port as well as no headphone jack and is made of a material known as liquid morphium and is probably the next big thing with regards to phones. Apple has already been using the material in small quantity in its iPhone 6 models and the phone is said to be unusually waterproof due to its nano coating on the internals. Rubber is not used and everything is accessible as well as open. If the Turing Phone is placed in water, it is not designed to be sealed and water could get in. However, you can pull it out, shake it off and it is ready to be used without much problem.
Turing_Phone_1

Protected Communication Network

The San Francisco based company states that its end to end authentication system enables a `protected communication network which is completely insulated from cyber threats as well as privacy intrusions, which means that individuals would be capable of sharing documents as well as data without any cause to worry that it could be hacked. CEO of Turing Robotic Industries, Steve Chao, informed that the focus is on three features namely, nano-coating, liquid metal and privacy keys.

He further explained that these features in the initial days were like the GPS, Wi-Fi and the camera of the early days of smartphones where people were a bit apprehensive towards these features, though they got standardized later on. He states that if one does not have nano-coating privacy key and liquid metal, one could get phased out right way in the near future. Beginning July 31, the phone will be available at $610 for a 16GB model according to Chao and runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop with Turing Aemaeth UI, with three colour variants namely, Pharaoh, Cardinal and Beowulf.

Besides this, the other specifications include a 5.5 inch full HD – 1080x1920 pixel, display, 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 SoC, 3GB RAM :16/32/64GB storage models, with a 13 megapixel rear camera together with dual-LED flash, 8 megapixel front facing camera, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0 LE:NFC, GPS/Glonass as well as a non-removable 3000mAh battery. Sensors comprise of accelerometer, fingerprint, gyroscope, magnetometer, proximity, temperature, humidity and ambient light.

Activated Via Fingerprint Reader

The phone is designed with security in mind with end to end encryption which is built in most of the core apps on phone and also has a `Turing coin’ within, a crypotcurrency which Chao speculates would catch on. It’s activated via a fingerprint reader towards the side of the phone and is prepared to keep servers as well as third parties out as much as possible.

The company is at work on an API in order to enable user in accessing all these features. The Turing Phone in short is meant to be totally and absolutely unhackable. It also tends to be unbreakable since it is made from material like liquidmorphium, being much stronger than steel or aluminium as well as efficient for use in manufacturing. Chao commented that Apple tends to use it a bit though only in the SIM card slot on the iPhone but says that the iPhone 7 could make much more usage of the material.
Software Totally & Entirely Customized
Chao together with his team have been working on battery technology which according to him would be ready to show up in eight months and would be going to `change the world’. The final plan is to develop a robot butler that `would serve your day-to-day needs’ and to do so, he states that they are `working on their own artificial consciousness machine though not artificial intelligence, artificial consciousness’.The software is totally and entirely customized and Chao had shown a few home screens in a demo though he is confident that it will be a masterpiece.

He also promises a total overhaul of Android which would be a great enhancement on Google’s vision across the board. Chao, who is an architect both by training and disposition, envisages the phone is for designers as well as for anyone preferring something a little diverse from the black rectangles which blanket the world’s carrier stores. The company’s CEO informed Wired, that the software of the phone would be a `masterpiece’ and huge improvement on Android screens which users are presently familiar with.

الجمعة، 24 يوليو 2015

Eddystone: Cross-Platform Beacon Format Gets Google Launch


Eddystone
Google is all set to introduce its upcoming Eddystone beacon format, which will work along with other API to offer hardcore connectivity solution. Eddystone beacon is expected to make it easier for variety of devices to communicate with each other in close proximity. Google had caused frenzy among the developers with its update where it talked about beacon with headline: “Lightning the way with BLE beacons.”

How Eddystone Beacon Will Work? 

Fundamentally, beacon is not a new concept rather it works on the age-old technique wherein it acts as a transmitter. Beacon will acts as a transmitter, and it will send out the information about a certain point and that particular information is later is picked up by a smartphone or tablet within its range. In this connectivity becomes fast paced and much more synchronized and streamlined than before.

In the earlier times, we used to have a lighthouse, which helped the sailors in navigating through the treacherous ocean. On the same idea, modern electronic beacons are designed and developed which helps in navigating to the precise location and contextual cues already fed in apps.

A beacon can work on different levels to provide much more comfort and swift operational capability such as it can label a bus stop so phone knows to keep the tick ready in advance. Similarly, museum app will be able to provide background on the work of the artist a person is viewing at that particular moment.

Eddystone Is Google Open Beacon Format

Google is known to develop and launch such services, which are free and provide wholesome user experience without spending a single dime. Similarly Eddystone is open beacon format from Google. Its specification shows that it includes a large number of broadcast frame type most importantly Eddystone-URL which acts as backbone of Physical Web.

Very soon, Google will begin its rolling out of features in different sets for the developers to build new apps based on this technology. Google will also roll out a new open format for Bluetooth low energy (BLE) beacons in order to communicate with people’s devices. Google had ensured that its Eddystone remains an open source project by getting an Apache v2.0 license.

Developers Can Develop Apps As Much They Love To

This license makes sure that this new revolutionary beacon is free for any who wishes to use and improve its functionality further. The manufactures of the physical beacons can also access this remarkable technology as well as utilize it in their beacons. Even embed in their existing beacons making it Eddystone compliant through a firmware update.

Eddystone beacon possesses some amazing feature, which includes extensibility which means new functionalities can be added with ease. Highly scalable and having the capability to communicate with a variety of devices running either iOS, Android with perfection.

Google believes that beacon will provide an important way of delivering better experience to the users of different apps by embedding Eddystone in the products and services.

Beacon technology is being praised by all but now it is required to get business and transit authorities as well as other private enterprise to invest in compliant hardware to make it a success.

This Biotech Discovery Means You’ll Never Need a Painful Flu Shot Again

vaccine

Dissolving Needle Technology - MicroHyala

Diseases are infectious and are the major cause of death all over the world and hence the need of safe and effective vaccines is of great importance. Though the vaccinations are given with subcutaneous or intramuscular injection that has been administered by medical personnel having technical skills, it is also accompanied with the risk of needle related disease as well as injuries.

Besides this antigen solution need cold chain storage as well as transportation system and hence the development of vaccine which could be easy to use and administered, together with superior in stability of formulations is essentially important.Getting vaccinated is now no longer a painful ordeal since a group of researchers in Japan have tested a new `dissolving needle’ which seems to be a painless patch that one can stick to the arm and which tends to work well.

The dissolving needle technology is known as MicroHyala. Scientists have created a new micro needle patch that is made of dissolvable substance which makes flu vaccination safer, easier and painless by eliminating needle connected risks of injuries and diseases. Flu vaccination are delivered utilising micro needles which dissolve in the skin and protects a person against infection much better than the standard needle delivered vaccine according to researchers.

Readily Adaptable for General Practical Use

Transcutaneous microneedle delivery device that meets the requirements of the only application’ vaccination system, has been developed. The technique is readily adaptable for general practical use especially in developing countries with inadequate public health resources.

vaccine_1
However microneedles which are made of metal, stainless steel or silicon tend to pose risks of fractures, with fragments left in the skin. Hence the development of a dissolving microneedle patch has been fabricated from hyaluronic acid a component of skin tissue. Researcher from Osaka University in Japan state that their dissolvable patch which is the only vaccination system of its kind tends to make vaccination less painful. Microneedles on MicroHyala tend to penetrate the stratum corneum that acts as a physical barrier on the outer layer of the skin and are dissolved by water in the skin.

The MicroHyala efficiently delivers the various substances which can be loaded in the microneedles to ample immune-competent cells like Langerhans cells, dermal dendritic cells and keratinocytes in the epidermis as well as dermis beneath the stratum corneum. They found that when they used the MicroHyala in delivering the flu vaccination, it was quite effective as the standard needles.

The New Microneedle Patch

Most of the vaccinations are administered under the skin or into the muscle with the use of needles. Though this is an effective method in delivering a vaccination, it needs medical personnel with technical skills, bringing about the risk of needle related diseases and injuries.The new microneedle patch is made of dissolvable material which eliminates the needle connected risks.

It is easy to use without the requirement of trained medical professionals and makes it appropriate for use in developing countries, especially where healthcare means tends to be limited. Professor Shinsaku Nakagawa, one of the authors of the study from Osaka University states the `their novel transcutaneous vaccination using a dissolving microneedle patch is the only application vaccination system which is readily adaptable for widespread practical use’.

He further added that since the new patch is easy to use, they believe that it will be particularly effective in supporting vaccination in the developing countries.MicroHyala, the new micronneedle patch is dissolvable in water and the miniature needles are made of hyaluronic acid which is a naturally occurring material which cushions the joints. When a patch is applied like a plaster, the needles tend to pierce the top layer of the skin and dissolve into the body taking the vaccine with them.
Designed to Dissolve in the Skin
The new system was compared by the researchers with the traditional needle delivery by vaccinating two groups of people against three strains of influenza namely A/HINI, A/H3N2 and B. There was no sign of any bad reaction to the vaccine to any of the subjects, indicating that it is safe to be used in humans. The patch also seemed effective wherein the people, who were given the vaccine using the micro needles, had an immune reaction which was equal or stronger than those that were injected with the vaccine. Nakagawa said that they were excited to see that their new micro needle patch was effective as the needle delivered flu vaccine and in some cases it was even more effective.

 The earlier research had assessed the use of micro needles made of silicon or metal though they were not considered to be safe. The materials used for micro needles also tend to run the risk of breaking off in the skin and could leave tiny fragments behind. With the new dissolvable patch this risk is eradicated since the microneedles have been designed to dissolve in the skin.

Nakagawa states that they have shown that the patch tends to be safe and works well. Besides this, it is also painless as well as easy for non-trained individuals to use it and that it could bring about a major change in the way vaccine is administered globally. The research had been published in the journal Biomaterials – SAR AKJ SAR.

الخميس، 23 يوليو 2015

Earth Heading For ‘Mini Ice Age’ Within 15 Years

Ice_age
Prediction – Earth to Face a New `Mini Ice Age’

Scientist predict that the Earth would face a new `mini ice age’ in the next 15 years which would cause severe cold winters during which rivers like the Thames may tend to freeze. As Antarctic Vortex grips Australia, solar researchers from the University of Northumbria in UK state that solar activity is set to drop by 60 percent by 2030.

Professor Valentina Zharkova, research head, informed that the fluid movements in the Sun, which is believed to create 11 year cycles in the weather would cancel each other out causing a dramatic temperature drop which would lead to a weather phenomenon known as a `mini ice age which had earlier hit between 1645 and 1715. The discoveries are established on new model that the scientist believes produces `unprecedentedly accurate prediction of irregularities’, within the Sun’s 11-year heartbeat.

According to Professor Zharkova, he states that between the cycle 2030 and around 2040, two waves will mirror each other exactly, peaking at the same time though in opposite hemispheres of the sun. Their interaction would be disruptive or they will nearly cancel each other and predicts that this would lead to the properties of a `Maunder Minimum’.

Maunder Minimum – Europe/North America Experienced Cold Winters (1645-1715)

Maunder Minimum was the name that was given when Europe and North America had experienced very cold winters, during the period between 1645 and 1715 and during that time the Thames River in England was said to be frozen over. Research findings were presented at the National Astronomy Meeting in Llandudno, Wales and also published in the papers of the Royal Astronomical Society.

This surprising news has been given as the Antarctic Vortex whirled into eastern Australia bringing about a freak phenomenon known as thunder-snow. The tropical style thunderstorms, accompanied by heavy snowfalls thundered through the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney and town as far as Orange recently. Several areas of the country are expecting destructive winds, which could reach blizzard intensity of 90km/h while the snow tends to continue to fall and the big freeze begins to bite.

Snow that falls as the big freeze tend to start to affect the nation’s south east where sub-zero temperature are predicted in some places for much of the coming week. According to the Bureau Meteorology, in the coming days, it is said that strong cold front with low to the south would be moving through the state, bringing in cold vigorous, westerly winds.

Sun’s Activity Differs – Cycle of 10 to 12 Years

Scientists had first discovered that the sun’s activity differs over a cycle of 10 to 12 years in 1843. Variations within that cycle became difficult to predict though several solar physicists were aware that the fluctuation were due to a dynamo of moving fluid deep within the sun. Professor Zharkova’s team found that adding a second dynamo near the surface of the sun created a far more accurate model.

They found magnetic waves in two various layers of the sun’s interior that varied between the northern and the southern hemispheres of the sun.According to Professor Zharkova, on combining both waves together and comparing the real data for the current solar cycle, they observed that the predictions showed an accuracy of 97 percent. The magnetic wave patterns indicated that there would be few sunspots in the next two solar cycles. Cycle 25 that peaks in 2022 and Cycle 26, between 2030 and 2040 will be having both a significant reduction in solar activity.

الأربعاء، 22 يوليو 2015

In Tests, Yahoo Uses Google to Power Search Results and Ads


Yahoo
Presently, Yahoo is already in the deal of 10 years to use Microsoft's Bing to power its search results and due to that this software giant is not happy as Google is entering in its territory.

To work together, Yahoo and Google is testing:

According to the reports of New York Times, Yahoo and Google are entering into partnership to test the Google powered search results and search ads for Yahoo. However; the discovery was first time reported by Aaron Wall of, owner of SEO Book (One of the best company in industry). The more he added that this arrangement is only for the test and may be in future it will not convert into actual deal. According to Yahoo spokeswoman, “We are working together to provide the best experiences to our users and it’s our regular work to run small test or pilot projects with different partners to power up the search results for users benefit. The more she added that at this time we don’t have anything more to share.

Microsoft and Google didn’t respond immediately:

Google is the leading and its most popular search engine as it has more than 71 per cent market share in all over the world, as per the reports of NetMarketShare. However; in this list Yahoo lead by Marissa Mayer, former Google executive is at the third position with 9.6 per cent share in all over the world and Microsoft powered Bing search engine is at second position with 10 per cent market share. Only in US Google has more than 64.40 per cent share in search market, followed by Bing with 20.20 per cent and Yahoo with 12.70 per cent market share in search industry, as per the latest reports of ComScore.

Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo have seen the same search results in her career earlier when she was in Google and due to that she signaled that now our company is focusing on powering up the Yahoo search engines to cover more market share. But any search deal between Yahoo and Google will definitely come under antitrust scrutiny because European Commission has already antitrust pending cases about Google’s dominant position. However; earlier in April 2015, Yahoo and Microsoft have announced the agreement, which will provide flexibility to yahoo to enhance the search experience of users across multiple devices such as; mobile, tablets, and desktops. Whereas; the key component of agreement was that yahoo is free to get in partnership with other companies to power up its own search platforms.

In past, Microsoft has lost few important deals including recent deal with Facebook as in December 2014, Facebook announced that they have ended the deal with Bing to provide web search results through Bing because now we are focusing on helping the users to find what people are sharing on their walls through our Facebook search box. According to tech experts, its clear indication that Google is trying to enter in the Microsoft's territory.

Team Leads Google Expedition to Create 'Internet of Things' Technology


Internet_things
Google had given the first and fore most major Internet of Things gadget in the form of S Watch just a few years back. Now it is all set to bring great revolution in this segment by offering funding support to the unique expeditions by a team of different universities in creating a new robust platform for Internet of Things devices.

Under this great initiative, Carnegie Mellon University will be turning its university into a living laboratory. The aim of this expedition is to create a new and more novel robust platform, which will greatly improve the communication between the internet-connected devices and people.

Projects aims at improving the connectivity issues

The aim of this project is to radically enhance the human to human as well as human to computer interaction while bringing in a large scale deployment of Internet of things technology. There is also a focus upon ensuring privacy as well as improvement of features over time, which will enable the users to design application as per their needs and requirements for daily usage.

Carnegie Mellon University is at the helm of this project and it will be working in close with other prominent universities namely Cornell, Illinois, Standford and Google to create a new platform called GIoTTO to support IoT applications.

The initial plan is to focus on sensors, which are inexpensive in nature and offer easier deployment in GIoTTO. New middlewares will be developed to facilitate app development along with addressing privacy concerns by efficiently managing privacy and security issues. Most importantly new tools will be made available to the end users in order to enable them to develop their own IoT experiences.

Google funding this project to create a more consistent platform

Google believes in bringing collaboration of best of minds and ideas spread across universities in order to accelerate the innovation and IoT adoption on larger scale. Google will be initially providing $500,000 to Carnegie Mellon University for launching the expedition. The privacy and security related aspects will be taken by second CMU team, which will be led by Computer Science Professor Norman Sadeh.

Sadeh has stated that he will be demonstrating the use of various personalized privacy assistants, which will help users in configuring the privacy settings in order to retain control over their data.

The future prospects of this expedition

Internet of Things brings in a lot of promises which even appear to be futuristic at the moment but their wide scale adoption and deployment will bring a whole new level of experience for the end users. Sensors embedded in the building and everyday objects can eventually help in creating smart environments. CMU researchers had created Snap2It, it is a very unique system which allows the users to link the printer or projector by simply taking a smartphone photo of it.

Google’s aim here is to fulfill the IoT’s promise and potential by creating such complete system of interoperable IoT technology in a better manner through preserving privacy and ensuring security at the same time.