Friday, October 29, 2010

Electronic Cigarettes

Electronic Cigarettes are viewed as the Best substitute for traditional smoked tobacco products. Instead of producing Toxic smoke like cigars and pipes Electronic Cigarettes Produce vapors which are less toxic as compared to traditional cigarettes.

Penstyle801 An electronic Cigarette Which is also Popular known as an E-cigarette is a battery powered device which Vaporize Nicotine Present in Them .Thus a person using Electronic cigarette is inhaling vapor of nicotine without inhaling any toxic smoke which is produced by traditional cigarettes, cigars and pipes . Electronic Cigarettes are considered as good choice for people who can't quit smoking due to their conditions. Studies tells that Electronic Cigarettes are very effective in Nicotine Replacement Therapy.

You can visit this website for more details about various models in Electronic cigarettes and to buy guaranteed Electronic Cigarettes online

Digital Human Replicas

CG Models Are Eerily Life Like Robots

The person in this video looks real, but she isn’t. This image is a digital replica of actress Emily O’Brien, created by Image Metrics and Paul Debevec at the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT) - and it’s awesome.

The hardcore techy bit is that they used this to demonstrate the high-definition animated face at a recent conference.

I am not technologically minded, and can’t pretend I am, so I’ll let the press release explain.

Emilyimagemetttt ICT employed its high-resolution face scanning process to capture O’Brien in 35 facial poses directed by Image Metrics. This newest process from the ICT Graphics Lab places the actor inside a sphere of LED lights, illuminating the talent with a set of polarized spherical gradient illumination patterns while a pair of high-resolution digital cameras takes around 15 photographs in under three seconds.

These patterns allow the shine of the skin to be photographed independently from the main skin tone so that precise colors and characteristics can be calculated at hundreds of measurements per square millimeter. The resulting CG models provide unprecedented detail of natural facial expressions - down to skin pores and fine wrinkles - with perfectly aligned shading information that allows photo-real faces to be rendered under any illumination and viewpoint with standard rendering packages.

Sources: image-metrics boingboing.net

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Robot Construction Workers

Robot-Construction-Workers
Project ‘On The Bri(n)ck,’ a co-op between computer-aided design and computer-aided construction departments at Harvard University, employed the use of a robot to build a wave-like double-wall structure from wooden bricks.

Professor Ingeborg M. Rocker and Graduate School of Design students at Harvard University programmed the crafty robot arm to place 4,100 wooden bricks together to create the complex double-curvature walls.

The project, which was originally created to highlight material and technical limits, may also be used as a model for digital design and education.

Overall the project hopes to highlight the potential of digital fabrication techniques and the role these have in the education of architects. (dezeen)

Sources: dezeen

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Landline Endangerment

People Ditch Landlines for Mobiles and Alternatives

I dropped my landline’s long-distance calling plan years ago, opting instead to use a cheaper alternative… my mobile phone. I have often wondered why I have the landline at all. Apparently, I’m not alone. For the first time, mobile phone-only households have surpassed landline-only ones. The current recession has been credited with this trend as people look to cut costs out of their budget.

There are ways, however, to keep your home phone without paying a high monthly fee - most of which use the still-unfamiliar technology of VoIP (or calls using the internet).42704_1_468

Skype - This free software lets you call anyone, anywhere, for free… as long as they are also members of Skype. For only $2.95/month, U.S. callers can call ANYONE within the U.S., regardless of whether they are members, including cellphones. You can either use your computer’s built-in microphone and speakers or buy optional headsets or compatible phones. Remember that you have to have an internet connection or at least access to the internet. But with wi-fi networks popping up everywhere, this isn’t a big deal.

MagicJack - This service is a bit different. Although it still works over the internet, you have to have your own connection because you physically plug a USB device into your computer, connecting your existing landline phone. For a onetime fee of $39.95, you get one year of free local and long distance calling to the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

The downside with both services is that emergency calls using 911 may not be available depending on service areas, failing internet connections, or downed electric service.

Sources: trendhunter

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Kid-Friendly Netbooks

Dell Releases Latitude 2100 for the K-12 Crowd

42904_1_468
The Latitude 2100 by Dell is the perfect school accessory for the K-12 crowd. It has a rubberized body, so this kid-friendly netbook can take any beating thrown at it. You don’t have to worry about this little guy getting destroyed in the schoolyard!

Another great feature of the Latitude 2100 is its germ-killing keyboard. As an optional add-on, you can get an antimicrobial keyboard to help fight off those unsightly germs.

The Latitude 2100 is available in five fun colors and has tons of accessories like shoulder straps for easy carrying.

Sources: dell gizmodo

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Hi-Tech Jewelry

The Orb Goes From a Ring on Your Finger to a Phone Call Receiver

48977_1_468 A collaboration between Hybra Advance Technologies and AbsolutelyNew Inc. has brought us the Orb bluetooth headset. This fantastic design for a headset combines a touch of beautiful jewelry and intense compact technology.

It starts off as a full-circled ring (looks as though it can be worn, depending on its actual size) and can be opened up to comfortably fit around your ear.

It’s ultimate haute hands-free calling!

Sources: hybratech, gizmag

Android Camera Phones

Samsung i7500 Smartphone is Finally A Reality

43601_1_468 Launching “in major European countries from June,” Samsung is releasing its very first android smartphone with the i7500.

After months in the rumour mill, Samsung is ready to dive into the competitive android/smartphone market at a pretty decent height.

The Samsung i7500 comes ready to roll with a 3.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen, WiFi, GPS, a 5 megapixel camera with Power LED, 8GB of storage (upgradeable to 32gb), and a standard 3.5mm headset jack.

Although North American release dates have not surfaced from within the rumour mill, it can’t be long before this beast heads over seas to tackle our market.

Sources: samsungmobile engadget

$6,000 Laptops - The Stealth Macbook®

Colorware Stealth Macbook Pro Gets a Matte Black Makeover

Stealth-Macbook-01 Dramatic lighting aside, the images of this $6,000 Colorware Stealth Macbook Pro are amazing. With a full matte black finish, the Macbook Pro’s backlit keys feel far more sinister.

There will only be 10 Colorware Stealth Macbook Pros made, and with a price tag that’s double the retail of the top-of-the-line Macbook Pro, this laptop is sure to separate the die-hard Apple fans from the well-heeled early adopters.

Stealth-Macbook-03 Stealth-Macbook-04

ColorWare's Stealth finish uses SofTouch technology, adding to its smooth-feeling covert look while protecting the surface from fingerprints and minor scuffs of normal use. The Stealth Macbook® Pro is a must-have for anyone wanting a computer as powerful as it looks--and with only 10 available, it won't go unnoticed. (colorwarepc)

Sources: colorwarepc, gizmodo

Monday, October 11, 2010

Braille Mobiles

The Universal Phone Designed for the Blind

50609_1_468 The Universal Phone is a mobile that anyone can use, including the visually impaired.

The number 5 key on the Universal Phone has a little dot to allow blind users to remember the placement of the keys while dialing and sending text messages.

You might ask, how do they read text messages? Well, the Universal Phone can turn the texts into braille writing so users can feel their way through their different messages.

Unfortunately, this mobile is only a concept, but it would be great to see something like this out on the market.

Sources: tuvie

Indestructible Hard Drives

The ioSafe Storage Device is an Information Fort Knox

Indestructible Hard Drives Data and information is considered extremely vital to many people in this world. In the technological age of storage devices, the possibility of destroying one is a pretty frightening thought. The ioSafe storage device is, to put it lightly, indestructible.

The ioSafe storage device is a rather large device sitting at around 5 x 7 (inches) but this baby can withstand hell if it had to. The ioSafe storage device has excellent connection speed and excellent memory capabilities.

Watch the video to see this titan take on the elements of nature—AND survive!

Sources: yankodesign

Mixtape USB Ports

USB Data Storage for the Romantic Type

52711_1_468 The mixtape USB port is perfect for the lonely, acne-ridden guy in class. The poor guy has a crush on the pretty girl in school, but just doesn’t know how to show it. Well, just like in 1985, this music saving device can be the key to winning the girl of his dreams.

Taking your love beyond side A and side B, the mixtape USB port has a collection of love songs poetically pre-selected by designer Maria Papadonikolakis and is a can’t-miss Valentine’s Day present.

Sources: behance.net

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Super Skeletal Laptops

The Sony X Series Notebooks Holds the Title of World’s Skinniest

56737_1_468 In the world of laptops, skinny is in (maybe Karl Lagerfeld had something to do with this direction); laptops continue to ‘lose weight’ and the Sony X Series notebooks, which were revealed in Singapore last week, are currently the skinniest on the market.

According to The Luxury Insider, the Sony X Series laptop measures 13.9 mm, which is slightly thicker than the iPhone and slimmer than the MacBook Air and HP Envy 13 by about one-third. Not only is it slim, the Sony X Series PC also boasts the aesthetic appeal of which the brand is known for: excellet durability (the laptop can withstand prolonged pressure-vibration) and excellent processing capabilities like a 2GHz Intel Atom Processor Z550, solid state drive, and the new Windows 7 Operating System.

Sources: sony.net, luxury-insider

iPhone Car Starters

The Viper SmartStart Lets You Go Keyless for $500

56130_1_468 The iPhone is steadily becoming like a universal remote, what with applications like this Viper SmartStart system that allows users to unlock and start their cars sans keys.

For $500, which is the price of the Viper SmartStart receiver (the actuall app is free on iTunes), the system will unlock, start, set the alarm, and unlock the trunk of your car. It will also allow you to find a misplaced vehicle via a ‘panic’ button. Basically, it’s like any old remote car starter, except it will be part of your iPhone. You have the option, however, to manage more than one car with it as well as assign more than one user to the car.

Sources: viper, cultofmac

GPS Glasses

The iPhone ARider is the Future of Navigation

53838_1_468 30 years ago, people predicted that there would be flying cars, laser guns and advanced navigation systems in the future. Today, we have finally achieved one of those predictions with the iPhone ARider.

The ARider allows the user to navigate hands free with a head mounted display. With the GPS features in the iPhone, all you have to do is move your head and the map will rotate with you. When mounted on a helmet, the ARider is the perfect tool to take along with you while biking as you will never get lost again.

Sources: crunchgear

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Illuminating Lip Gloss

Lanolip Pure Illumination Hydrating Lip Therapy Can Be Applied in the Dark

61500_1_468 Lanolip Pure Illumination hydrating lip therapy is a lighted lip gloss system that comes with a hundred-hour LED light and mirror. The light-up feature allows users to apply the lip gloss with confidence even in the dark.

The lip gloss is a combination of natural ingredients, medical-grade lanolin, jojoba, sweet almond oil, and vitamin E. It is available in three colors, Brown Frost, Wine Berry and Pouty Pink. There are special colors too: Holiday Red and Clear Gold Frost will join the standard three for the winter holiday season.

MEDICAL-GRADE LANOLIN: Hydrates - lips feel and look healthy Protects - lips won’t crack or dry out Absorbs - lips continue to look nourished Moisturizes - lips stay fresh and shiny longer Restores - lips stay soft and natural (pureillumination)

Sources: pureillumination, treehugger

Bluetooth Speaker Cradles

The Space Music Flow Cellphone is a Smooth Communication Device

58384_1_468 This mobile phone design concept from Korean designer Hyunsoo Choi is called the ‘Space Music Flow’ cellphone. It presents a portable telephone that also encompasses a number of other, useful functions. This includes a Bluetooth speaker in the phone’s cradle and a touch-pad music component.

The ‘Space Music Flow’ cellphone was created with sponsorship by Pantech/Sky Designers Community Project. The design of the phone is meant to encompass visual beauty with state-of-the-art technology and functional capabilities.

Sources: choihyunsoo, thedesignblog.org

LED Tattoos

Silk Silicon Chip Implants Turn Your Arm Into a TV

60096_1_468 There is a new tattoo coming soon to a body part near you. LED Tattoos, are being developed by Researchers from MIT, the University of Pennsylvania and Illinois. Unlike traditional inked tattoos, the LED tattoos main purpose won’t be to make a fashion statement.

The initial planned uses are for medical purposes, like displaying blood-sugar readings on skin. This is made possible by embedding an electronic silicon transistor under the skin. The main research focus is on epilepsy, but also encompasses “implantable neurodevices, functional neurosurgery, network and computational neuroscience, movement disorders, intra-operative and ICU monitoring, major mental illness, and other brain network disorders.”

I’m all for medical advances, but when I read articles where the brain is impacted, I get a little creeped out.

Animated and programmable LED tattoos connected to your brain? You could show off your latest Flash animations, watch TV on your arm, or have a built-in PDA screen. The possibilities are endless. (hplusmagazine)

Sources: hplusmagazine

Friday, October 8, 2010

Cherry Red Apple iPads

The ColorWare iPad Customizes Your Tablet in Every Color of the Rainbow

colorware-ipad Just like a car, you can now customize your newly-purchased computer tablet with all the colors of the rainbow at your disposal—simply check out the ColorWare iPad. Specializing in “altering the color of existing products,” according to their website, you can make sure someone will never mistake their iPad for yours.

I think what’s particularly neat about the ColorWare iPad is the fact that you can also customize the Apple logo and button.

Sources: colorwarepc, uncrate

Gloved Mouses

The Airmouse from Denmark LTD. is an Ergonomic Pleasure

65728_1_468 If you have ever suffered from Carpal Tunnel then the Airmouse from Denmark Ltd. will be a godsend for you. This mouse is specifically designed to prevent the injuries that come with pointing and clicking all day long.

Let’s clear this up right now, Denmark Ltd. is a Canadian company. With that being said, the Airmouse from Denmark Ltd. is a cool piece of tech. It can run for a week without needing to be charged and you wear it just like a glove. This mouse should be available in a few months for around $129. Look below to find out more about this awesome mouse.

According to the company website, the clinically-tested product works by aligning itself with the ligaments of your hand and wrist. This lets you keep your hand in a neutral position, and transmits more of your vector force than would be possible with a regular mouse. Not only does this make it easier on your hand, but it increases your mousing speed and accuracy as well. The mouse is also designed to remain inactive until your hand is placed in a neutral, flat position. (gizmag)

Sources: theairmouse, gizmag

Scanner Photo Frame

Hammacher Schlemmer Digital Photo Frame Scans Pictures

64496_1_468 This Hammacher Schlemmer digital photo frame can scan your old favourite pictures into digital images. This digital photo frame has a built-in scanner that converts photos into 300-dpi jpg images, just with the press of a button. This digital picture frame has 1 GB internal memory that can hold up to 3,000 images. Scanned images can be transferred to PC via USB port.

It has many other features too, a MPEG video player, picture calender, clock and an MS/SD/xD/MMC/CF memory card.

Sources: hammacher

Screenless Touch Screens

Light Blue Optics Pico Projector Puts Touchscreens Anywhere

63361_1_468 Light Blue Optics has introduced a portable projector that allows users to project a 10 inch screen on any surface that also doubles as a touch screen.

This flash driven device has 2GB of flash memory and a microSD card slot. It also supposedly has 2 hours of battery life. The beauty of this device is that it takes away the need for computers that have an attached screen and will make laptops that much more portable.

Light Blue Optics has been showing off their cool projection wares since 2004, so it’s great to hear they’re close to turning that “holographic laser projection technology” into a viable product, albeit as an OEM. (gizmodo)

Sources: lightblueoptics, gizmodo

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Super Terrain Autos

Shadow Hawk's Vehicle is Ultra Luxurious and Rugged

77823_1_468 Shadow Hawk’s Super Terrain Vehicle resembles a Hummer to some extent. The vehicle is designed to deliver a smooth and luxurious drive.

The massive automobile features 46 inches of independent wheel travel, caster and camber control systems, pneumatically sprung seats, daylight cameras and ride height control system. That’s a ton of features packed into one vehicle! The car is also powered by a massive 1,100 hp engine.

The Shadow Hawk super terrain vehicles are built only to order, so you won’t be seeing too many of these in mall parking lots any time soon.

Sources: blog.jameslist, shadowhawkvehicles

Speedy Electro Bikes

PG Bikes' 'Blacktrail' Bicycle Can Go 62 Miles Per Hour81861_1_468

German bicyle manufacturer PG Bikes has introduced ‘Blacktrail,’ the world’s fastest electric bike. The bicycle has a maximum speed of 100 km/h (around 62 miles per hour). PG Bikes will produce a limited-edition run of 667 individually-numbered Blacktrail bikes.

PG Bikes’ Blacktrail bike is powered by a CM 48-volt lithium-ion battery, which takes about two and a half hours to charge. The bike’s frame is made from carbon, magnesium, titanium, and high alloy aluminum, and the bicycle rides on carbon fiber wheels.

Sources: pg-bikes

Digital Interactive Teaching Tools

'Pas a Pas' Promotes Learning Through Use of Everyday Objects

pas-a-pas-interactive-education-toolThe ‘Pas a Pas’ interactive education tool is a fantastic new product that promotes learning through a digital board, camera and interface. Using the objects provided, and other objects, children can learn simple things like shapes, or more complex things like using stop motion animation to create movies.

Three main modes are programmed: Assisting (guides students to place objects in a certain way, and progresses to helping them learn to create realistic animations with stop motion), Directing (children create their own movies), and Collection (children watch previously recorded movies).

Sources: ishback psfk

Monday, October 4, 2010

Scanner Photo Frame

Hammacher Schlemmer Digital Photo Frame Scans Pictures

64496_1_468 This Hammacher Schlemmer digital photo frame can scan your old favourite pictures into digital images. This digital photo frame has a built-in scanner that converts photos into 300-dpi jpg images, just with the press of a button. This digital picture frame has 1 GB internal memory that can hold up to 3,000 images. Scanned images can be transferred to PC via USB port.

It has many other features too, a MPEG video player, picture calender, clock and an MS/SD/xD/MMC/CF memory card.

Sources: hammacher

Gloved Mouses

The Airmouse from Denmark LTD. is an Ergonomic Pleasure

65728_1_468 If you have ever suffered from Carpal Tunnel then the Airmouse from Denmark Ltd. will be a godsend for you. This mouse is specifically designed to prevent the injuries that come with pointing and clicking all day long.

Let’s clear this up right now, Denmark Ltd. is a Canadian company. With that being said, the Airmouse from Denmark Ltd. is a cool piece of tech. It can run for a week without needing to be charged and you wear it just like a glove. This mouse should be available in a few months for around $129. Look below to find out more about this awesome mouse.

According to the company website, the clinically-tested product works by aligning itself with the ligaments of your hand and wrist. This lets you keep your hand in a neutral position, and transmits more of your vector force than would be possible with a regular mouse. Not only does this make it easier on your hand, but it increases your mousing speed and accuracy as well. The mouse is also designed to remain inactive until your hand is placed in a neutral, flat position. (gizmag)

Sources: theairmouse, gizmag

Screenless Touch Screens

Light Blue Optics Pico Projector Puts Touchscreens Anywhere

63361_1_468 Light Blue Optics has introduced a portable projector that allows users to project a 10 inch screen on any surface that also doubles as a touch screen.

This flash driven device has 2GB of flash memory and a microSD card slot. It also supposedly has 2 hours of battery life. The beauty of this device is that it takes away the need for computers that have an attached screen and will make laptops that much more portable.

Light Blue Optics has been showing off their cool projection wares since 2004, so it’s great to hear they’re close to turning that “holographic laser projection technology” into a viable product, albeit as an OEM. (gizmodo)

Sources: lightblueoptics, gizmodo

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Super Terrain Autos

Shadow Hawk's Vehicle is Ultra Luxurious and Rugged

77823_1_468 Shadow Hawk’s Super Terrain Vehicle resembles a Hummer to some extent. The vehicle is designed to deliver a smooth and luxurious drive.

The massive automobile features 46 inches of independent wheel travel, caster and camber control systems, pneumatically sprung seats, daylight cameras and ride height control system. That’s a ton of features packed into one vehicle! The car is also powered by a massive 1,100 hp engine.

The Shadow Hawk super terrain vehicles are built only to order, so you won’t be seeing too many of these in mall parking lots any time soon.

Sources: blog.jameslist, shadowhawkvehicles

Cherry Red Apple iPads

The ColorWare iPad Customizes Your Tablet in Every Color of the Rainbow

colorware-ipad Just like a car, you can now customize your newly-purchased computer tablet with all the colors of the rainbow at your disposal—simply check out the ColorWare iPad. Specializing in “altering the color of existing products,” according to their website, you can make sure someone will never mistake their iPad for yours.

I think what’s particularly neat about the ColorWare iPad is the fact that you can also customize the Apple logo and button.

Sources: colorwarepc, uncrate

Friday, October 1, 2010

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Cherry Red Apple iPads

The ColorWare iPad Customizes Your Tablet in Every Color of the Rainbow

colorware-ipad Just like a car, you can now customize your newly-purchased computer tablet with all the colors of the rainbow at your disposal—simply check out the ColorWare iPad. Specializing in “altering the color of existing products,” according to their website, you can make sure someone will never mistake their iPad for yours.

I think what’s particularly neat about the ColorWare iPad is the fact that you can also customize the Apple logo and button.

Sources: colorwarepc, uncrate

Gloved Mouses

The Airmouse from Denmark LTD. is an Ergonomic Pleasure

65728_1_468 If you have ever suffered from Carpal Tunnel then the Airmouse from Denmark Ltd. will be a godsend for you. This mouse is specifically designed to prevent the injuries that come with pointing and clicking all day long.

Let’s clear this up right now, Denmark Ltd. is a Canadian company. With that being said, the Airmouse from Denmark Ltd. is a cool piece of tech. It can run for a week without needing to be charged and you wear it just like a glove. This mouse should be available in a few months for around $129. Look below to find out more about this awesome mouse.

According to the company website, the clinically-tested product works by aligning itself with the ligaments of your hand and wrist. This lets you keep your hand in a neutral position, and transmits more of your vector force than would be possible with a regular mouse. Not only does this make it easier on your hand, but it increases your mousing speed and accuracy as well. The mouse is also designed to remain inactive until your hand is placed in a neutral, flat position. (gizmag)

Sources: theairmouse, gizmag

Super Terrain Autos

Shadow Hawk's Vehicle is Ultra Luxurious and Rugged

77823_1_468 Shadow Hawk’s Super Terrain Vehicle resembles a Hummer to some extent. The vehicle is designed to deliver a smooth and luxurious drive.

The massive automobile features 46 inches of independent wheel travel, caster and camber control systems, pneumatically sprung seats, daylight cameras and ride height control system. That’s a ton of features packed into one vehicle! The car is also powered by a massive 1,100 hp engine.

The Shadow Hawk super terrain vehicles are built only to order, so you won’t be seeing too many of these in mall parking lots any time soon.

Sources: blog.jameslist, shadowhawkvehicles

Speedy Electro Bikes

PG Bikes' 'Blacktrail' Bicycle Can Go 62 Miles Per Hour81861_1_468

German bicyle manufacturer PG Bikes has introduced ‘Blacktrail,’ the world’s fastest electric bike. The bicycle has a maximum speed of 100 km/h (around 62 miles per hour). PG Bikes will produce a limited-edition run of 667 individually-numbered Blacktrail bikes.

PG Bikes’ Blacktrail bike is powered by a CM 48-volt lithium-ion battery, which takes about two and a half hours to charge. The bike’s frame is made from carbon, magnesium, titanium, and high alloy aluminum, and the bicycle rides on carbon fiber wheels.

Sources: pg-bikes

Digital Interactive Teaching Tools

'Pas a Pas' Promotes Learning Through Use of Everyday Objects

pas-a-pas-interactive-education-toolThe ‘Pas a Pas’ interactive education tool is a fantastic new product that promotes learning through a digital board, camera and interface. Using the objects provided, and other objects, children can learn simple things like shapes, or more complex things like using stop motion animation to create movies.

Three main modes are programmed: Assisting (guides students to place objects in a certain way, and progresses to helping them learn to create realistic animations with stop motion), Directing (children create their own movies), and Collection (children watch previously recorded movies).

Sources: ishback psfk

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Ubuntu 10.10 Getting Multitouch ''Sequences''

Ubuntu 10.10 Getting Multitouch ''Sequences''
Ubuntu 10.10 Getting Multitouch ''Sequences''

Canonical has announced that the next version of Ubuntu will come with support for multitouch.

Company founder Mark Shuttleworth yesterday announced that Ubuntu 10.10, scheduled for release in October, will feature multitouch support in the form of UTouch.

Multitouch is nothing new, however, Shuttleworth says Canonical tried to do something different with its implementation in Ubuntu.

"The design team has lead the way, developing a “touch language” which goes beyond the work that we’ve seen elsewhere," Mr. Shuttleworth writes on his blog. "Rather than single, magic gestures, we’re making it possible for basic gestures to be chained, or composed, into more sophisticated 'sentences,'" he explains. "The basic gestures, or primitives, are like individual verbs, and stringing them together allows for richer interactions. It’s not quite the difference between banging rocks together and conducting a symphony orchestra, but it feels like a good step in the right direction."

Expect things to be pretty basic in 10.10, but Shuttleworth hopes that as third part developers jump on board, Ubuntu's multitouch experience will start to fill out quite nicely.

Ars Technica reports that uTouch is tightly integrated with Unity, Ubuntu's new lightweight netbook environment, and relies on recent improvements to the Linux kernel like the Xorg display server, and the Gtk+ toolkit.

Firefox 4 B4 Bringing Direct2D GPU Acceleration

Firefox 4 B4 Bringing Direct2D GPU Acceleration
Firefox 4 B4 Bringing Direct2D GPU Acceleration

Adventurous Firefox fans, there's a new beta coming on Monday that'll add a couple considerable features.


The fourth beta of Firefox 4 will be hitting on Monday, and notable will be the inclusion of hardware acceleration for Windows users that have the hardware and software to support Direct2D.

Firefox using your GPU to render won't be on by default – at least not yet. Mozilla's VP of engineering tweeted that Direct2D will be included in beta 4, but it isn't quite ready for everyone to be running it yet. Instead, the feature will be enabled through user intervention by modifying the config.
Mozilla details in its Wiki of how to turn it on and what to look out for:

D2D status:

* Direct2D is not turned on by default for Firefox 4 beta 4. (We weren't confident enough to turn it on for all users.)
* However, all the code in Firefox 4 beta 4, and it should work reasonably well for everyone.
* We really need testers, both on the beta and on nightlies. (We plan to enable Direct2D in nightlies as soon as beta 4 is tagged and branched.)

* To turn on Direct2D: Go in to about:config and set mozilla.widget.render-mode to 6, and gfx.font_rendering.directwrite.enabled to true.
* To turn off Direct2D, once it is on by default, set mozilla.widget.render-mode to 0.
* To check whether you are running with Direct2D, go to about:support and look at the bottom. (Once bug 586046 lands, there will be even more information about your graphics card in there.)
* Please look out for memory usage, rendering speed, and any rendering problems you might see. Also focus on interactions with plugins like Flash.

HP Confirms WebOS and Windows Tablets/Slates

HP Confirms WebOS and Windows Tablets/Slates
HP Confirms WebOS and Windows Tablets/Slates

Two tablets that have been talked about for months have been confirmed.

Talk of this device has been going on for a while now, even though we haven't had any official word from HP on it. Now we've finally got confirmation: All that talk of a WebOS tablet from HP was true; and yes, it's launching sometime at the beginning of next year. Also in the cards? A Windows tablet, despite the supposedly axed HP Slate.

Last week, word got out that a HP WebOS tablet called Hurricane had been discussed in an all hands meeting. Though tipsters didn't have any information -- other than the fact that project Hurricane had been mentioned by Personal Systems Group VP Todd Bradley -- it matched up with earlier reports that said HP would launch a WebOS tablet called Hurricane – though those pointed to a Q3 2010 launch as opposed to Q1 2011.

The company has also been talking about a Windows 7 slate for a very long time, debuting the HP Slate at CES last January. At the time, it was expected to see a June release but it never appeared and word on the street was HP had axed it. However, it seems that's not the case. Todd Bradley yesterday put an end to talk by confirming both devices, and gave a rough estimate of when we can expect to see them hit shelves.

"You'll see us with a Microsoft product out in the near future and a webOS-based product in early 2011," Bradley, said at the company's third-quarter earnings call, later confirmed that he was talking about tablets.

Bradley provided nothing else in the way of information, but gadget fans eager to see a tablet running Windows will be excited to hear HP hasn't completely ditched the OS, as we'd originally feared.

HP yesterday posted Q3 earnings with $2.3b in operating profit, a five percent increase over the same period last year. GAAP diluted earnings per share was $0.75, up from $0.69 percent a year earlier, while non-GAAP diluted earnings per share was $1.08, up from $0.92. This includes a one-time negative impact of approximately $0.02 per share related to a legal settlement. The company posted quarterly revenue of $30.7 billion, an 11 percent increase over last year.

Intel: Turbo Boost

Intel: Turbo Boost
Intel: Turbo Boost

Intel's implementation works best on processors with a lot of scalability inherent to their design, as Turbo Boost covers much broader clock speed ranges. For example, the new six-core "Gulftown," Core i7-980X, is already running close to its thermal ceiling under load. Thus, it's limited to a 266 MHz boost with a single core active, and a modest 133 MHz bump when two or more cores are active. Knowing that Intel’s overclocking headroom is sizable, this is really a pity for enthusiasts. After all, the Phenom II X6 can speed up three cores by up to 400 MHz using a 45 nm process.


Intel’s power gate transistors facilitate cutting power to individual cores. This allows the processor to actually disengage those cores from the overall power envelope, consequently "buying" the overhead needed to increase the remaining cores’ clock speed. The premise here is that fewer cores can run at higher clock speeds before they reach the same thermal output.

While AMD basically reduces clock speed and voltage for inactive cores, Intel can physically shut them down. In theory, this should result in lower power consumption and, paired with the ability to dynamically scale one or more cores up or down, a better overall performance result.

Intel has another advantage that should be mentioned. While AMD's six-core processors access 6 MB of shared L3 cache, Intel's architecture currently offers a massive 12 MB repository. If you switch off individual cores, the remaining active processing units can still access the full 12 MB L3. This should provide advantages for applications that work with limited data and use few threads.

AMD: Turbo CORE

AMD: Turbo CORE
AMD: Turbo CORE

Turbo CORE is available on all AMD Phenom II X4 and X6 processors based on the recent 45 nm designs, namely the Thuban six-core and seen-in-the-wild but not-yet-available-at-retail Zosma quad-core models. Should it ever see retail availability, the Phenom II X4 960T at 3.0 GHz nominal speed could accelerate two cores up to 3.4 GHz (+400 MHz) with the thermal headroom available, and if the application load demands the increase. The Phenom II X6 processors increase their clock speeds by 500 MHz, with the exception of the 1090T flagship, which adds 400 MHz to reach from 3.2 to 3.6 GHz.

This implementation can be considered an addition to the Cool’n’Quiet feature, which reduces clock speeds and voltages if there is little work for the processor to do. Once half of the cores are idle, the system reduces their clock speed to the Cool’n’Quiet minimum of 800 MHz. The next step is a voltage increase for the remaining active cores paired with a speed lift of up to 500 MHz, as explained above.

Unfortunately, few workloads would tax exactly three cores by 100%—the conditions needed for AMD’s solution to run at 3.6 GHz. We found that a two-core load scenario is more realistic. This is why the feature works better on a CPU with an even core count, such as the Phenom II X4 960T.

AMD’s Turbo CORE control allows Black Edition processor users to adjust their number of accelerated cores. This makes analysis more complex, but also gives enthusiasts a more powerful tool for fine tuning their systems.

Zotac GeForce GTX 480 AMP Edition

Zotac GeForce GTX 480 AMP! Edition
Zotac GeForce GTX 480 AMP! Edition
We've been impressed by Zotac's factory-overclocked AMP! edition cards in the past. This time around, the company is working with Zalman in order to provide a card with a more effective aftermarket cooler. Certainly, one of the main detractors from Nvidia's GeForce GTX 480 is how hot the card gets, and how noisy the stock cooler can be. So, if a new cooler can fix these issues, this product has the potential to be a particularly attractive option. At $510 on Newegg, this board is about $60 more than the lowest-priced reference GeForce GTX 480s.
The $60 price premium gets you a Zalman VF3000 graphics card cooler, which is a large and effective unit with dual-axial fans and five heat pipes designed to pull the high temperatures from the hot GF100 GPU. At the time of writing, the delta between this card and the reference pack was only $20. Since the Zalman VF3000F cooler will cost in the neighborhood of $50 when it's released (It hasn't made it to retail at time of writing), that seemed like a very reasonable deal. Now, it's a little less impressive in the face of cratering prices on the GTX 480s.

As with the rest of our factory-overclocked models, good case airflow is a must, as the hot air is not forced out of the back of the case. Instead, most of it will find its way back into the enclosure. Note that the Zotac GeForce GTX 480 AMP! edition card is the only model in our roundup that monopolizes three expansion card slots, due to the massive Zalman cooler.
The card's bundle includes some standard items, such as a driver CD, a manual, a DVI-to-VGA dongle, and a Molex-to-PCIe power adapter. But there are a couple of adapters that I'm not used to seeing: a mini HDMI-to-HDMI adapter and a dual-six-pin-to-eight-pin-PCIe power adapter. The card doesn't have any value-added software, but there are some 30-day trials of CUDA-accelerated software like the Badaboom video encoder. Zotac offers a five-year warranty with this AMP! edition card (and limited lifetime within the US), which is fantastic compared to the competition.
The PCB is 100% reference, complete with unused holes for the cross-flow fan with which the standard model comes equipped. Of course, this doesn't detract from the product. Just like the reference card, the GeForce GTX 480 comes with 1536 MB of GDDR5 memory. The outputs mirror the reference card, with two dual-link DVI options and a single mini-HDMI port. Because the GF100 includes two independent display pipelines, you can only use two of this card's three outputs at any given time.
This factory-overclocked AMP! edition card has a core speed of 756 MHz (56 MHz above reference), a shader speed of 1512 MHz (111 MHz over reference), and a memory speed of 950 MHz (26 MHz/104 MT/s effective over reference). As far as we know, the fastest factory-overclocked GeForce GTX 480 is the EVGA GeForce GTX 480 SuperClocked+ model, with a mere 4 MHz more on the core (760 MHz). Yet, the EVGA card has a 61 MHz lower shader speed, so we think it's reasonable to say that the Zotac AMP! card has the highest factory overclock you can get on a GeForce GTX 480. At idle, the card's clocks drop to a miserly 50.5 MHz core/101 MHz shader/67.5 MHz memory to keep things as efficient as possible.

Overclocking
As a testament to the effectiveness of the cooling system, we were able to overclock the Zotac card's core to 825 MHz, its shaders to 1650 MHz, and it memory to 1050 MHz. We achieved this with MSI's Afterburner overclocking utility that, fortunately, allowed us to adjust clock rates and voltages. We increased voltage from 1.05 V to 1.138 V, and we increased the fan speed to 100% to keep temperatures down.

Gigabyte GV-R587SO-1GD SUPER OVERCLOCK

Gigabyte GV-R587SO-1GD SUPER OVERCLOCK
Gigabyte GV-R587SO-1GD SUPER OVERCLOCK


Gigabyte's special sauce for its GV-R587SO-1GD comes in the form of a very high factory overclock, coupled with the ability to tweak the card's voltages using the Gigabyte OC Guru software. A large custom cooler completes the package. This card can be purchased from Newegg for $500, or about $110 more than typical Radeon HD 5870 reference models.
Speaking of the cooler, this is an impressive unit, as the temperature and noise benchmarks will show further into the story. It uses four heat pipes to pull the heat away from the GPU and a pair of axial fans to quickly dissipate it. Unlike the reference cooler, some of the heated air is forced back into the case. So, once again, good case airflow is a great idea.
As with our other Radeon HD 5870 sample, we only had the bare card to test. According to promotional images of the bundle, Gigabyte's bundle includes an install CD, an installation guide, a CrossFire bridge, two Molex-to-PCIe power adapters, and a DVI-to-VGA adapter. There is no value-added software to be had here. Instead, the engineers have focused exclusively on the hardware, and we're absolutely alright with that. The card comes with a three-year warranty, which is just what we'd expect from this class of hardware.
Gigabyte has gone out of its way to make the GV-R587SO-1GD stand out. You can tell this by looking at the PCB, which deviates significantly from the reference model, even though it's almost exactly the same physical size and carries the standard 1 GB of GDDR5 memory. The PCIe power connectors have been moved to the top of the card for easy access, which is a welcome change. Gigabyte claims that this card is part of its GPU Gauntlet program, meaning that the graphics processors are deliberately binned to ensure superior overclocking. We'll see if this bears out in the overclocking tests.
Despite all of its other differences, this Gigabyte card uses the same reference Radeon HD 5870 output bezel, complete with two DVI outputs, in addition to HDMI and DisplayPort connectors.

For a product with the words “Super Overclock” as part of its name, we have high expectations of default clock rates. The card does not disappoint, either. It's core clock is set 50 MHz shy of 1 GHz (that's 950 MHz), representing a 100 MHz overclock beyond AMD's reference design. Moreover, it sports a 1250 MHz memory clock, 50 MHz (200 MT/s effective) over the reference setting. To our knowledge, this is the highest factory overclock available on a Radeon HD 5870. Despite this, clock speeds drop to a low 157/300 MHz to save power, just as we'd hope to see.

Overclocking

While this card's BIOS allows for overclocking speeds of up to 2000 MHz on the core and memory through AMD's Overdrive panel in the Catalyst Control Center (CCC), there is naturally no way it'd ever make it that high. While MSI's Afterburner utility doesn't allow for voltage manipulation on this board, Gigabyte does have its own robust overclocking utility capable of altering clock rates and voltages.
Using Gigabyte's utility, we were able to push the card to just over 1 GHz stably, eventually resting on a 1010 MHz core and 1325 MHz (5300 MT/s effective) configuration with the GPU voltage raised to 1.29 V, up from 1.187 V. Incidentally, this is the highest voltage the OC Guru utility allowed us to use. Even still, load temperatures in FurMark remained nice and low at about 60 degrees Fahrenheit with the fan speed increased to 100%. This is a great overclock for a Radeon HD 5870. We weren't able to do much better with a water-cooled PowerColor Radeon HD 5870 LCS that we reviewed. It seems that most Radeon HD 5870 GPUs probably won't go much faster than 1 GHz, despite voltage and cooling tweaks.

HIS HD 5870 iCooler V Turbo X

HIS HD 5870 iCooler V Turbo X
HIS HD 5870 iCooler V Turbo X
The HIS HD 5870 iCooler V Turbo X’s long name tells its tale: it's a Radeon HD 5870 equipped with HIS' iCooler V heat sink, and the Turbo suffix means that it's also overclocked. The "X" is a little something extra. The modifier indicates that the card is overclocked higher than HIS' standard Turbo model. We found the Turbo X on Newegg for $490 (at the time of publication, it's unavailable), which is $100 more than standard Radeon HD 5870 models, and very close to GeForce GTX 480 cards. So, let's see what HIS did to make this card special.

The card comes with the usual 1 GB of GDDR5 onboard memory, so the extra expense doesn't come from an abundance of RAM. The iCooler V is certainly unique when compared to the reference Radeon HD 5870 cooler, as HIS has abandoned the reference radial (cross-flow) fan in favor of an axial model. HIS claims this makes the card quieter and cooler than AMD's reference design. We'll see how effective the iCooler V is in our testing later on.
Since we were sent the bare card without the accompanying bundle, we can only report on the package contents from the HIS Web site, which indicates that the product includes a CrossFire bridge, two Molex-to-PCIe power adapters, a DVI-to-VGA adapter, an installation CD, and an installation guide. The package also comes bundled with a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 game coupon. This becomes a real bonus if you don't already own the game. It's a AAA title that still sells for about 50 bucks. Of course, if you're one of the more than 20 million people worldwide who have already played the game, the bundle is less meaningful, naturally.

The HIS Web site declares that this product comes with a two-year warranty. While the two-year warranty is somewhat shorter than the three-year term we'd hope a premium product would offer, it is certainly not uncommon. And after two years, most enthusiasts have already started thinking about an upgrade anyway.
The printed circuit board is closely related to the reference design, but it does sport a few tweaks. It is about 3/8" shorter than the reference Radeon HD 5870, and its PCI Express (PCIe) power connections have been relocated to the top of the card--a change that can make installation a lot easier in tighter environments.
The iCooler V heat sink doesn't have any fancy heat pipes. It instead relies on brute force, with a lot of copper and aluminum fins to get the job done. It pulls air in the bottom and exhausts the heat out of the back of the case, in addition to the opposite end of the card. So, having a case with good airflow is ideal.
When it comes to outputs, the TurboX doesn't deviate from AMD's standard Radeon HD 5870 configuration. It boasts two DVI outputs, in addition to HDMI and DisplayPort options. In fact, the output bezel looks identical to the reference model. Just remember that you can only use three outputs at any given time, and in a three-monitor setup, one of them must be attached to the DisplayPort connector.

As mentioned, Turbo X indicates a factory overclock. This card sports a 900 MHz core clock, in addition to a 1225 MHz memory clock, representing a 50 MHz and 25 MHz (100 MT/s effective) increase over stock clocks, respectively. At idle, we saw the GPU frequency drop to 400 MHz core to save power, but the memory seemed to stay at 1,225 MHz. This is in sharp contrast to the 157/300 MHz clocks enabled on a reference card.

Overclocking

The card's BIOS locks the maximum overclocks accessible through AMD's Overdrive utility to a meager 920 MHz core, which is only a mere 20 MHz over its shipping frequency. While the memory limit is a little more flexible at 1300 MHz, we decided to use the MSI Afterburner utility, purported to override the BIOS limits with a little tweaking.
Unfortunately, the MSI Afterburner utility doesn't allow for voltage increases on most non-reference Radeon HD 5870s, so we weren't able to really push the card as far as we would have liked. Nevertheless, we were able to squeeze a maximum overclock of 940 MHz core and 1340 MHz memory from the board, which is 90 MHz over the reference core clock and 140 MHz (520 MT/s effective) over the reference memory data rate. This is a very good result without a voltage increase, and speaks to the effectiveness of the tweaks that HIS made to AMD's reference design.

At 100% fan speed, the card is noisier than a stock Radeon HD 5870. but it manages to keep the GPU cool, with temperatures under 70 degrees Celsius at full load.

Android Phone Can Be Used as a Supercomputer

google nexus one handphone  google nexus one handphone

This supercomputer fits in your pocket.


When you hear 'supercomputer' and 'small' in the same sentence, you likely wonder how small a room are they talking about. However, when the folks at MIT and Texas Advanced Computing Center say small, they mean small as in pocket-sized.

A collaboration between MIT and the Texas Advanced Computing Center has led to an Android application that the two institutions claim can do honest-to-goodness supercomputing.

TACC explains that the team at MIT performed a series of expensive high-fidelity simulations on TACC's Ranger supercomputer and then generated a smaller, reduced model, which was used to create an Android application for a Nexus One.

"You don’t need to have a high-powered computer on hand," insists David Knezevic, a post-doctoral associate in mechanical engineering at MIT. "Once you've created the reduced model, you can do all the computations on a phone."

Though this kind of model reduction has been done before, TACC says the MIT system's real advantage is its rigorous error bounds, which tell the user the range of possible solutions, and provide a metric of whether an answer is accurate or not.

Knezevic goes on to say that using a reduced scale model also results in faster computations.

"The payoff for model reduction is larger when you can go from an expensive supercomputer solution to a calculation that takes a couple of seconds on a smart phone," he said. "That’s a speed up of orders of magnitude."