Latest News in Information technology
Google to donate €1.5m to improve school children's computer skills
The programme will see Google donate €1.5 million to the scheme to train 1,000 teachers over three years.
The programme will be run by Trinity College and will particularly focus on increasing skills in disadvantaged schools.
As part of the plan, 1,000 Raspberry Pi computers will be given to schools.
These are cheap, basic credit card sized computers that can be plugged into TVs and keyboards and are good for teaching coding.
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Windows 8.1 update fails to deliver
In a blog post, Microsoft senior vice-president, Antoine Leblond wrote: “We’ve improved the way you navigate to Start with the mouse by changing the Start 'tip' to be the familiar Windows logo.”
This is the closest Microsoft has come to offering the much-needed Start button in Windows 8. While the touch user interface (UI) works well on a tablet devices, many people have said it is out of place on a laptop and corporate desktop environment..
Leblond said Windows 8.1 can be configured to boot into alternate screens: “For example, if you prefer to see the Apps view versus all the tiles, you can choose to have the Start screen go directly to Apps view.”
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ASUS ANNOUNCES 31.5-INCH 4K ULTRA HD MONITOR
According to PCWorld, the Asus PQ321 LCD display is already pretty monstrous at a hefty 31.5-inches in screen size, but that diagonal measurement pales in comparison to its intense 4K Ultra HD screen resolution. The company reported that it made use of Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (IGZO) as the binding agent on its LCD screen, rather than a traditional silicone mix. This allowed developers to force much smaller pixels onto the display. For all you tech-heads out there, the maximum resolution on this product will run at 3840 x 2160.
Ultra-realism is just one step closer to becoming an ultra-reality with this impressive resolution. But the PQ321 doesn’t stop there. The monitor also features a nifty tilt feature, which will allow you to move the viewing angle along a 176-degree arc. You’ll also get access to a DisplayPort, built-in 2W stereo speakers, and two HDMI inputs. This isn’t just another monitor hastily tossed together in an attempt to cash in on the high-resolution craze. Asus is promising that the PQ321 is a quality-driven product, well-built and made from heavy professional-grade materials. It all sounds like a visual dream and it looks sleek to boot.
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WINDOWS 8.1 FEATURES CONFIRMED
WINDOWS 8.1 FEATURES CONFIRMED
After screenshots from a preview build of Windows 8.1 revealed some upcoming changes to Windows 8, Microsoft decided to make many of the rumored new features official today. Though the public preview of the update won’t be released until June 26, which coincides with the company’s BUILD conference, Microsoft let us in on a few of Windows 8.1′s new features. Here are some of the improvements to Windows 8 you can look forward to.
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Australian researchers get closer to scalable quantum computing
Researchers in Australia are making progress in their quest to construct a scalable quantum computer, having developed a method for extracting information from an electron racing around a phosphorus atom in silicon, the MIT Technology Review reported Wednesday. The achievement suggests that commercial use — and, therefore, wider implementation of a probabilistic computing model much faster than current systems — could be just a wee bit closer.
The idea of a operating a quantum computer with a quantum bit — or qubit — based on a phosphorous atom harks back to a vision articulated by Australian Bruce Kane in research published in Nature in 1998. “The realization of such a computer is dependent on future refinements of conventional silicon electronics,” Kane explained in the abstract to his paper.
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Apple’s plan to make the iPhone more affordable in India
It turns out giving people money to buy your product — as well as instituting affordable payment plans — works. Apple, which has struggled to gain real traction for the iPhone in India, has seen sales of the smartphone rise by 300 to 400 percent in the last few months, according to data gathered by Credit Suisse. The sudden spike in sales for the device — going from about 70,ooo to 80,000 units sold per month to about 400,000 units sold in May.
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Hot New Technologies That Will Change Everything
Since the dawn of electronics, we've had only three types of circuit components--resistors, inductors, and capacitors. But in 1971, UC Berkeley researcher Leon Chua theorized the possibility of a fourth type of component, one that would be able to measure the flow of electric current: the memristor.
32-Core CPUs From Intel and AMD
If your CPU has only a single core, it's officially a dinosaur. In fact, quad-core computing is now commonplace; you can even get laptop computers with four cores today. But we're really just at the beginning of the core wars: Leadership in the CPU market will soon be decided by who has the most cores, not who has the fastest clock speed.
What is it? With the gigahertz race largely abandoned, both AMD and Intel are trying to pack more cores onto a die in order to continue to improve processing power and aid with multitasking operations. Miniaturizing chips further will be key to fitting these cores and other components into a limited space. Intel will roll out 32-nanometer processors (down from today's 45nm chips) in 2009.
When is it coming? Intel has been very good about sticking to its road map. A six-core CPU based on the Itanium design should be out imminently, when Intel then shifts focus to a brand-new architecture called Nehalem, to be marketed as Core i7. Core i7 will feature up to eight cores, with eight-core systems available in 2009 or 2010. (And an eight-core AMD project called Montreal is reportedly on tap for 2009.)
After that, the timeline gets fuzzy. Intel reportedly canceled a 32-core project called Keifer, slated for 2010, possibly because of its complexity (the company won't confirm this, though). That many cores requires a new way of dealing with memory; apparently you can't have 32 brains pulling out of one central pool of RAM. But we still expect cores to proliferate when the kinks are ironed out: 16 cores by 2011 or 2012 is plausible (when transistors are predicted to drop again in size to 22nm), with 32 cores by 2013 or 2014 easily within reach. Intel says "hundreds" of cores may come even farther down the line.
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10 Future Technologies That May take The World to Future
real-life products that is set to revolutionize the world as we know it. Get ready to control the desktop and slice Ninja fruits with your eyes. Get ready to print your own creative physical product. Get ready to dive into the virtual world, and interact with them. Come unfold the future with us.
A. Google Glass
B. Form 1
Just as the term suggests, 3D printing is the technology that could forge your digital design into a solid real-life product. It’s nothing new for the advanced mechanical industry, but a personal 3D printer is definitely a revolutionary idea.
Everybody can create their own physical product based on their custom design, and no approval needed from any giant manufacturer! Even the James Bond’s Aston Martin which was crashed in the movie was a 3D printed product!
C. Oculus Rift
Virtual Reality gaming is here in the form of Oculus Rift. This history-defining 3D headset lets you mentally feel that you are actually inside a video game. In the Rift’s virtual world, you could turn your head around with ultra-low latency to view the world in high resolution display.There are premium products in the market that can do the same, but Rift wants you to enjoy the experience at only $300, and the package even comes as a development kit. This is the beginning of the revolution for next-generation gaming.
D. Leap Motion
It’s not your typical motion sensor, as Leap Motion allows you to scroll the web page, zoom in the map and photos, sign documentss and even play a first person shooter game with only hand and finger movements. The smooth reaction is the most crucial key point here. More importantly, you can own this future with just $70, a price of a premium PS3 game title!
E. Eye Tribe
Eye tracking has been actively discussed by technology enthusiasts throughout these years, but it’s really challenging to implement. But Eye Tribe actually did this. They successfully created the technology to allow you to control your tablet, play flight simulator, and even slice fruits in Fruit Ninja only with your eye movements.Currently the company is still seeking partnership to bring this sci-fi tech into the consumer market but you and I know that this product is simply too awesome to fail.
F. SmartThings
The current problem that most devices have is that they function as a standalone being, and it require effort for tech competitors to actually partner with each other and build products that can truly connect with each other. SmartThings is here to make your every device, digital or non-digital, connect together and benefit you.You could track who’s been inside your house, turn on the lights while you’re entering a room, shut windows and doors when you leave the house, all with the help of something that only costs $500! Feel like a tech lord in your castle with this marvel.
G. Firefox Operating System
iOS and Android are great, but they each have their own rules and policies that certainly inhibit the creative efforts of developers. Mozilla has since decided to build a new mobile operating system from scratch, one that will focus on true openness, freedom and user choice. It’s Firefox OS.Firefox OS is built on Gonk, Gecko and Gaia software layers – for the rest of us, it means it is built on open source, and it carries web technologies such as HTML5 and CSS3.
You can use the OS to do essential tasks you do on iOS or Android: calling friends, browsing web, taking photos, playing games, they are all possible on Firefox OS, set to rock the smartphone market.
H. Project Fiona
Meet the first generation of the gaming tablet. Razer’s Project Fiona is a serious gaming tablet built for hardcore gaming. Once it’s out, it will be the frontier for the future tablets, as tech companies might want to build their own tablets, dedicated towards gaming, but for now Fiona is the only possible one that will debut in 2013.Crowned as the best gaming accessories manufacturer, Razer clearly knows how to build user experience straight into the tablet, and that means 3-axis gyro, magnetometer, accelerometer and full-screen user interface supporting multi-touch. My body and soul are ready.
I. Parallella
Parallella is going to change the way that computers are made, and Adapteva offers you chance to join in on this revolution. Simply put, it’s a supercomputer for everyone. Basically, an energy-efficient computer built for processing complex software simultaneously and effectively. Real-time object tracking, holographic heads-up display, speech recognition will become even stronger and smarter with Parallella.
The project has been successfully funded so far, with an estimated delivery date of February 2013. For a mini supercomputer, the price seems really promising since it’s magically $99! It’s not recommended for the non-programmer and non-Linux user, but the kit is loaded with development software to create your personal projects.
J. Google Driverless Car
I could still remember the day I watch the iRobot as a teen, and being skeptical about my brother’s statement that one day, the driverless car will become reality. And it’s now a reality, made possible by… a search engine company, Google.
While the data source is still a secret recipe, the Google driverless car is powered by artificial intelligence that utilizes the input from the video cameras inside the car, a sensor on the vehicle’s top, and some radar and position sensors attached to different positions of the car. Sounds like a lot of effort to mimic the human intelligence in a car, but so far the system has successfully driven 1609 kilometres without human commands!
You can count on one hand the number of years it will take before ordinary people can experience this.” Google co-founder, Sergey Brin said. However, innovation is an achievement, consumerization is the headache, as Google currently face the challenge to forge the system into an affordable gem that every worker with an average salary could benefit from.
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