Tablet + Laptop - Asus Eee Pad Transformer

This Android 3.0 Honeycomb Tablet has a dual core 1 GHz Tegra 2 CPU. The keyboard has USB slots and flash card reader slots.

It’s priced at $399 (tablet only) for the 16-GB version.

read more

Hands free video camera

Looxcie ear-mounted head cam is smaller and sleeker than it’s predecessor. It is compatible with iPhone and the iPad as well as Android-based tablets and smartphones. The video camera can capture 480p at 30 fps (4000 kbps) for either 5 hours or 10 hours of recording time. It also functions as a bluetooth headset with 6 hours of talk time. 

read more

Titanic being devoured by steel-munching bacteria

Microorganisms collected from a “rusticle” ” a structure that looks like an icicle but consists of rust ” are slowly destroying the iron hull of the liner on the seabed 3.8km below the Atlantic waves where it plummeted, killing 1,517 people, in April 1912.

The newly identified species, while potentially dangerous to vital underwater installations such as offshore oil and gas pipelines, could also offer a new way to recycle iron from old ships and marine structures, according to the researchers from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, and Seville University in Spain.The discovery of the bacterium, now named Halomonas titanicae, will be reported in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology on Wednesday. When the researchers tested its rusting ability in the lab, they found that it was able to adhere to steel surfaces, creating knob—like mounds of corrosion products.A similar process is thought to be responsible for the formation of the rusticles on the hull of the Titanic. They appear to be solid structures but are highly porous and support a complex variety of bacteria, suggesting that H. titanicae and other organisms may accelerate the corrosion of steel.

Lead researchers Bhavleen Kaur and Henrietta Mann from Dalhousie University say the role of microbes in this process is only now starting to be understood. “We believe H. titanicae plays a part in the recycling of iron structures at certain depths. This could be useful in the disposal of old naval and merchant ships and oil rigs that have been cleaned of toxins and oil-based products and then sunk in the deep ocean.” The scientists believe the findings could have applications for industry. “We don’t know yet whether this species arrived aboard the RMS Titanic before or after it sank. We also don’t know if these bacteria cause similar damage to offshore oil and gas pipelines. Finding answers to these questions will not only better our understanding of our oceans, but may also equip us to devise coatings that can prevent similar deterioration to other metal structures,” they said.

http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Faster_cancer_prognosis_courtesy_IISc_and_Apple-nid-70421-cid--sid-.html

read more

Acer unveils dual screen laptop

Acer has launched the Iconia, a laptop-cum-tablet computer with two touch screens. The new dual-screen laptop has two 14 inch displays, including one in place of a traditional keyboard.

The Iconia, which was unveiled at a press conference in New York, features two touch-screens protected by ultra-tough Gorilla Glass.

The device can be used like a traditional laptop, with the second screen doubling up as a virtual keyboard, or can serve as a tablet-style computer, reports the Telegraph.

A tablet computer is a portable computer equipped with a touchscreen as a primary input device.

Users can spread the desktop across both screens, or use one to watch a video or surf the web, and the other to write an email or edit photos.

The device features palm sensors to detect the position of the user’s hands, and automatically launch the virtual keyboard when needed.

Acer said the Iconia, which runs Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system, would introduce “a brand new tablet experience”.

“This level of commitment to touch technology is something no other PC vendor can compete with,” said Jim Wong, president of Acer.

The Iconia, which goes on sale in Britain Jan 8, will cost 1,499 pounds. The device uses Intel Core i5 processors, and a minimum of 4GB memory and up to 750GB hard drive.

The success of Apple’s iPad has prompted scores of consumer electronics manufacturers to launch their own rival devices.

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, which runs Google’s Android operating system, is considered one of the closest competitors to the iPad. 

http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Teen_creates_free_Internet_application_for_iPhone_-nid-70045-cid--sid-.html

read more

Using moon to trap elusive cosmic particles

A team of astronomers used the Moon as part of an innovative telescope system to detect mysterious, ultra-high-energy neutrinos from distant regions of space.

Their work gave new insight on the possible origin of the elusive subatomic particles and points the way to opening a new view of the Universe in the future.Neutrinos are fast-moving subatomic particles with no electrical charge that readily pass unimpeded through ordinary matter.Though plentiful in the Universe, they are notoriously difficult to detect. Experiments to detect neutrinos from the Sun and supernova explosions have used large volumes of material such as water or chlorine to capture the rare interactions of the particles with ordinary matter.

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

The team used special-purpose electronic equipment brought to the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope, and took advantage of new, more-sensitive radio receivers installed as part of the Expanded VLA (EVLA) project.Prior to their observations, they tested their system by flying a small, specialized transmitter over the VLA in a helium balloon.In 200 hours of observations, Ted Jaeger of the University of Iowa and the Naval Research Laboratory, and Robert Mutel and Kenneth Gayley of the University of Iowa did not detect any of the ultra-high-energy neutrinos they sought. This lack of detection placed a new limit on the amount of such particles arriving from space, and cast doubt on some theoretical models for how those neutrinos are produced.

CORES OF GALAXIES

The ultra-high-energy neutrinos the astronomers sought are postulated to be produced by the energetic, black-hole-powered cores of distant galaxies; massive stellar explosions; annihilation of dark matter; cosmic-ray particles interacting with photons of the Cosmic Microwave Background; tears in the fabric of space-time; and collisions of the ultra-high-energy neutrinos with lower-energy neutrinos left over from the Big Bang.Radio telescopes can't detect neutrinos, but the scientists pointed sets of VLA antennas around the edge of the Moon in hopes of seeing brief bursts of radio waves emitted when the neutrinos they sought passed through the Moon and interacted with lunar material.Such interactions, they calculated, should send the radio bursts toward Earth. This technique was first used in 1995 and has been used several times since then, with no detections recorded.

The latest VLA observations have been the most sensitive yet done, according to a National Science Foundation press release. 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100622081359.htm

 

read more

Launch of Falcon 9 rocket delayed after engine damage

A crack in the engine nozzle of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket delayed its test launch until later this week, NASA said Monday.

The privately owned Falcon 9 is operated by SpaceX, a California— based company that hopes to compete for future NASA contracts to ferry astronauts into space.

The rocket was to carry the Dragon space capsule, and the launch was scheduled for Tuesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida. But during a routine review of photographs of the rocket, SpaceX engineers discovered a 7.6—cm—long crack in the engine nozzle.

SpaceX will either repair the crack or ship a replacement part from California.

The Falcon 9 rocket could soon carry astronauts to space. NASA is set to retire the remainder of its ageing fleet of space shuttles later this year, leaving the United States without a vehicle to get astronauts into orbit.

President Barack Obama is scrapping a NASA plan to build a next generation of manned rockets in favour of contracting the work to private industry in so—called “space taxis.”       

read more

In India, 3G adoption likely to be tardy

The 3G mobile services, already available from BSNL and set to be rolled out by private operators, will take a long time to gain large-scale adoption, says a study conducted by Nielsen, an international marketing and advertising research firm.

A recent post on the Nielsenwire blog (blog.nielsen.com), which quoted the company's study on the country mobile market ahead of the 3G-service rollout, notes that only one in five of the urban mobile subscribers is ready to embrace the 3G services. Nearly 70 per cent of the urban mobile subscribers are aware of these services, and 63 per cent are familiar with them as a concept.

But the number of those opting for the services may be really low, though they promise higher rates of data transfer and the ability to download much larger files on the mobile phone networks.

“While service providers have succeeded in popularising the concept of 3G and articulating its promises clearly, consumers seem tentative about their disposition to embrace the technology,” says Arjun Urs, Director-Client Solutions India.

The study should come not only as a note of caution for the private players who have spent exorbitant sums to buy licences in the 3G spectrum auction but also as an opportunity for the service providers and the content developers to work on compelling solutions that will become an incentive for subscribers to switch to the 3G services.

The study lists three strategies that could facilitate widespread adoption in the long run: creating a compelling user experience through services and handset upgrades; creating a strong brand association and relevant services; and not just touting the 3G services as “faster.”

Nielsen suggests that telecom operators in India “bundle” 3G services with superior handsets — something that has not been seen much in the market, though it is a regular feature in the U.S. and European markets. In Japan, the operators have introduced relevant services that have made 3G adoption near universal.

read more

School bus in Japan

read more