A German animation crew used various video game characters and put them together into a video. This is where Mario wants to have Sex with Lara Croft and Guybrush gets killed by the Doom player. 
See characters from Tomb Raider, Monkey’s Island, Doom and Super Mario interacting in multiple quite silly ways with each other. Check out a world where Ryu and Guile love each other…
Small flyers, or micro-aerial vehicles (MAVs), have garnered a great deal of interest due to their potential applications where maneuverability in tight spaces is necessary, says researcher Gheorghe Bunget. For example, Bunget says, “due to the availability of small sensors, MAVs can be used for detection missions of biological, chemical and nuclear agents.” But, due to their size, devices using a traditional fixed-wing or rotary-wing design have low maneuverability and aerodynamic efficiency.
The Robobat skeleton
So Bunget, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering at NC State, and his advisor Dr. Stefan Seelecke looked to nature. “We are trying to mimic nature as closely as possible,” Seelecke says, “because it is very efficient. And, at the MAV scale, nature tells us that flapping flight – like that of the bat – is the most effective.”
The researchers did extensive analysis of bats’ skeletal and muscular systems before developing a “robo-bat” skeleton using rapid prototyping technologies. The fully assembled skeleton rests easily in the palm of your hand and, at less than 6 grams, feels as light as a feather. The researchers are currently completing fabrication and assembly of the joints, muscular system and wing membrane for the robo-bat, which should allow it to fly with the same efficient flapping motion used by real bats.
“The key concept here is the use of smart materials,” Seelecke says. “We are using a shape-memory metal alloy that is super-elastic for the joints. The material provides a full range of motion, but will always return to its original position – a function performed by many tiny bones, cartilage and tendons in real bats.”
Seelecke explains that the research team is also using smart materials for the muscular system. “We’re using an alloy that responds to the heat from an electric current. That heat actuates micro-scale wires the size of a human hair, making them contract like ‘metal muscles.’ During the contraction, the powerful muscle wires also change their electric resistance, which can be easily measured, thus providing simultaneous action and sensory input. This dual functionality will help cut down on the robo-bat’s weight, and allow the robot to respond quickly to changing conditions – such as a gust of wind – as perfectly as a real bat.”
In addition to creating a surveillance tool with very real practical applications, Seelecke says the robo-bat could also help expand our understanding of aerodynamics. “It will allow us to do tests where we can control all of the variables – and finally give us the opportunity to fully understand the aerodynamics of flapping flight,” Seelecke says.
Bunget will present the research this September at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems in Oxnard, Calif.
A team led by Yale University researchers has created the first rudimentary solid-state quantum processor, taking another step toward the ultimate dream of building a quantum computer.
The two-qubit processor is the first solid-state quantum processor that resembles a conventional computer chip and is able to run simple algorithms.
They also used the two-qubit superconducting chip to successfully run elementary algorithms, such as a simple search, demonstrating quantum information processing with a solid-state device for the first time. Their findings appeared in Nature’s advanced online publication June 28.
“Our processor can perform only a few very simple quantum tasks, which have been demonstrated before with single nuclei, atoms and photons,” said Robert Schoelkopf, the William A. Norton Professor of Applied Physics & Physics at Yale. “But this is the first time they’ve been possible in an all-electronic device that looks and feels much more like a regular microprocessor.”
Working with a group of theoretical physicists led by Steven Girvin, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics & Applied Physics, the team manufactured two artificial atoms, or qubits (”quantum bits”). While each qubit is actually made up of a billion aluminum atoms, it acts like a single atom that can occupy two different energy states. These states are akin to the “1″ and “0″ or “on” and “off” states of regular bits employed by conventional computers. Because of the counterintuitive laws of quantum mechanics, however, scientists can effectively place qubits in a “superposition” of multiple states at the same time, allowing for greater information storage and processing power.
For example, imagine having four phone numbers, including one for a friend, but not knowing which number belonged to that friend. You would typically have to try two to three numbers before you dialed the right one. A quantum processor, on the other hand, can find the right number in only one try.
“Instead of having to place a phone call to one number, then another number, you use quantum mechanics to speed up the process,” Schoelkopf said. “It’s like being able to place one phone call that simultaneously tests all four numbers, but only goes through to the right one.”
These sorts of computations, though simple, have not been possible using solid-state qubits until now in part because scientists could not get the qubits to last long enough. While the first qubits of a decade ago were able to maintain specific quantum states for about a nanosecond, Schoelkopf and his team are now able to maintain theirs for a microsecond—a thousand times longer, which is enough to run the simple algorithms. To perform their operations, the qubits communicate with one another using a “quantum bus”—photons that transmit information through wires connecting the qubits—previously developed by the Yale group.
The key that made the two-qubit processor possible was getting the qubits to switch “on” and “off” abruptly, so that they exchanged information quickly and only when the researchers wanted them to, said Leonardo DiCarlo, a postdoctoral associate in applied physics at Yale’s School of Engineering & Applied Science and lead author of the paper.
Next, the team will work to increase the amount of time the qubits maintain their quantum states so they can run more complex algorithms. They will also work to connect more qubits to the quantum bus. The processing power increases exponentially with each qubit added, Schoelkopf said, so the potential for more advanced quantum computing is enormous. But he cautions it will still be some time before quantum computers are being used to solve complex problems.
“We’re still far away from building a practical quantum computer, but this is a major step forward.”
Authors of the paper include Leonardo DiCarlo, Jerry M. Chow, Lev S. Bishop, Blake Johnson, David Schuster, Luigi Frunzio, Steven Girvin and Robert Schoelkopf (all of Yale University), Jay M. Gambetta (University of Waterloo), Johannes Majer (Atominstitut der Österreichischen Universitäten) and Alexandre Blais (Université de Sherbrooke).
Did you see it coming? I would say this is the most anticipated product that I have been waiting for in these few years. This piece of exciting news just arrived after 10 months since Google Chrome Web Browser was released last year.
Most of the Operating System (OS) we are using today were designed and development prior to the Internet era. Google Development Team realizes this and is aiming to produce an OS for people who are relying on the web (Btw, who doesn’t?). Besides, they are also smart enough to sense that netbook is the new trend right now. Therefore, Google Chrome Operating System is designed for the web and will be initially used on netbook.
Below are some highlights of Google Chrome Operating System :-
The OS is scheduled to be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. I just can’t wait to see it!
Here are a number of your most frequently asked Qs that have been answered by Google.
Is Google Chrome OS free?
Yes – Google Chrome OS is an open source project and will be available to use at no cost.
What companies is Google working with to support Google Chrome OS?
The Google Chrome OS team is currently working with a number of technology companies to design and build devices that deliver an extraordinary end user experience. Among others, these companies include Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba.
I’m a developer – how can I work with you?
Thanks for your interest. Later this year, the Google Chrome OS code will be open sourced. We’re looking forward to working with the open source community and making our own small contribution to the great work being done out there. Please stay tuned.
Orange have announced plans to launch the world’s first touchscreen”watch phone” in the UK this August. Made by LG, it’s a phone (obviously), a watch (again, I shouldn’t have to mention that), and touchscreen. But what else can it do?
It’ll be available on pay as you go, and comes with a bluetooth headset, built-in speaker, 3G and video calling. And that’s all we appear to know right now.
“Pay as you go only”, you may gasp, “why?”
Well here’s my thinking. What perfect way to sell you a gizmo you’ll probably get bored of using within a few weeks, and notch up another SIM ’subscriber’. Imagine being tied in to a 36 month contract on a watch? I couldn’t either really. It’ll also go down well with the kids – who, unless they have crazy parents with deep pockets, are usually on pay as you go these days.
The device will be available, according to Orange, ‘for a limited time period’ (there’s a pun in there somewhere), and is the first of at least three new ‘market leading’ devices they’re planning to announce before the end of the year.
Over to Tom Alexander, CEO of Orange UK, for the obligatory soundbite: “The Watch Phone is the must-have gadget of 2009. It’s handcrafted, exclusively limited, and will turn heads on the high street. Our ambition is to become the best loved communications brand in the UK, and the destination brand of choice for high-end mobile users in the market. To help us achieve this, we have secured some of the most original and innovative devices available.
“The Watch Phone is the first of these devices, all focused on bringing a 21st-century experience to our 21st century customers. Over time we also intend to match the power of these devices with bespoke multimedia packages, driving even more inspirational conversations and deeper connections for our customers.”
The last time we spoke on this very blog about mobile phones meeting watches was back in 2007 when Sony Ericsson and Fossil launched a Bluetooth watch. Seen many on the street? No nor have I – and to be honest you’d get some very funny looks talking into your wrist.
So how will the Orange/LG watch phone fair? Only time will tell. And on that note, I’ll leave you to watch the lovely demo video courtesy of Orange.
I’m told by extremely reliable sources that something good will happen if you call the phone number shown on this video so if anybody tries please leave me a comment.
Palm, Inc. today announced that the Palm® Pre™ phone is scheduled to be available initially in the UK, Ireland and Germany exclusively on the O2 network, and in Spain exclusively on the Movistar network, in time for the holidays. Palm Pre, the first phone based on the new Palm webOS™ mobile platform, brings your information from the many places it resides – on your phone, at work or on the web – into one simple, integrated view.(1)
“Europe continues to be an important region for Palm, and we’re proud to work with O2 and Movistar to spread the excitement Palm Pre has already ignited in North America,” said Jon Rubinstein, Palm chairman and chief executive officer. “Since we showed Palm Pre at Mobile World Congress in February, there’s been a great deal of anticipation for an announcement about European availability, and that day is here.”
“We are fast becoming the home of the smartphone with the addition of the hotly-anticipated Palm Pre to our already extensive portfolio,” said Matthew Key, chairman and chief executive officer, Telefónica Europe. “Our customers will be the first outside of North America to experience one of the most successful mobile devices of the year.”
In its first weekend of availability in the United States, Palm Pre broke Sprint’s previous first-weekend sales records. Palm Pre also is scheduled to debut in Canada with Bell Mobility in the second half of 2009.
Palm Pre
Palm Pre introduces a breakthrough user interface and hardware design that makes it one of the most integrated and user-friendly mobile phones on the market. Featuring a smooth, elegantly rounded ergonomic design and a physical keyboard that slides out only when needed, Palm Pre is engineered to feel natural in your hand and comfortably small in your pocket. When closed, Palm Pre is ideal for phone calls, web browsing, music, photos and videos; when open, Palm Pre is optimized for email and text messaging. It provides an exceptional experience for phone calls, whether held to your ear, over speakerphone or via Bluetooth.
With its curved slider and gesture-controlled touch interface, Palm Pre fuses exquisite design with the revolutionary webOS software for fast access to content on the device or web. Invented exclusively for mobile use, webOS offers an instinctive user experience that seems to anticipate your needs.
Key Features and Benefits of Palm webOS
Palm Synergy™, a key feature of the new webOS, brings your information from all the places it resides into one logical view. You don’t have to worry about tracking multiple calendars, contacts and messaging applications – Synergy seems to think ahead to bring you a more comprehensive and truly representative view of your life.
By smartly integrating your information, webOS seems to think ahead for you to keep you on top of the things that happen in your life, but that’s just the first step. The platform’s unique interface brings your information to you with the ease that only Palm can offer.
Palm Pre Specifications
An array of compelling accessories also will be available for Palm Pre, including the first inductive charging solution for phones (sold separately). Simply set Palm Pre down on top of the elegantly designed Palm Touchstone™ charging dock without worrying about connection, orientation or fit. Palm Pre is active while charging, so you can access the touch screen, watch movies or video, or use the speakerphone.
Availability and Pricing
Palm Pre is scheduled to be available initially in the UK, Ireland and Germany exclusively on the O2 network, and in Spain exclusively on the Movistar network, in time for the holidays. Pricing for the phone has not yet been determined.
We recently heard that the classic sword and sandal movie Clash of the Titans, famous for Ray Harryhausen’s stop-frame Plasticine monsters, was getting a remake due for release next year. Until then, we’ll have to contend with this equally epic battle of hero handsets, each one vying for a place in our pockets:
HTC Hero
HTC Hero
This Teflon-coated beauty was only officially announced this week and has already caused a considerable stir. The HTC Hero’s 3.2-inch touchscreen features a scratch and smudge resistant coating that is both durable and soft to the touch. HTC’s Sense UI looks great and provides easy and intuitive customisability. The HTC Hero comes with support for Flash installed out of the box, which means you’ll be able to view Flash videos online, download Flash-based apps and play Flash games. The only thing on the HTC Hero which doesn’t come with flash unfortunately, is the 5-megapixel camera.
iPhone 3GS
iPhone 3Gs
The iPhone 3GS is the most impressive iPhone to date, make no mistake. It does everything the previous incarnation does, only slightly better. For starters, there’s twice the memory, with versions starting at 16GB and 32GB respectively; the iPhone and iPhone 3G were only ever available in 8GB and 16GB flavours. The central processor is more powerful, reportedly making things run twice as fast than before. You can now send picture messages to your friends, which you couldn’t do on previous versions and you can now cut and paste from texts and emails. The camera has also been given an overhaul, bumping the megapixel count up to 3.2-megapixels, adding touch focus, and video recording and editing. Still no flash on the camera though…
Nokia N97
Nokia N97
The Nokia N97 is one of the most powerful phones out there and boasts up to 48GB worth of memory which none of the other phones here can come close to matching. Of the current four phones on display here the N97 easily outstrips the competition in terms of imaging. The HTC Hero’s camera may have the same amount of megapixels, but the Carl Zeiss Tessar lens and dual LED flash give the N97 the edge. The Nokia N97 supports a wide range of video and audio file formats, making it a capable multimedia device. Hardcore typers might not gel with the keypad of the N97, and may find solace in the Palm Pre instead…
Palm Pre
Palm Pre
The interface of the Palm Pre is beautiful – everything flows very naturally and quickly. The Cards system is ingenious, intuitive and is easily the main selling point of the Pre. Everything about this phone is streamlined and stylish, right down to the smooth curvature of the design. The Palm Pre features a 3.2-megapixel camera and unlike the iPhone 3GS’s, features an LED flash for taking pics in poorly lit locations. Unfortunately, you only get 8GB of internal memory with the Pre and there’s no card slot, so this can’t be expanded any further – perhaps not one for the hardcore music fan. There’s still no official word of a UK release date, although it is rumoured to be September. At this rate, the HTC Hero will be out over here before the Pre is.
The HTC Hero is HTC’s third handset to be powered by the android operating system. Announced at a press event in London in June, the HTC Hero is one of the best spec’d HTC Android devices to be launched across Europe.
The HTC Hero is a purely touchscreen device that features a 3.2-inch TFT-LCD display with a 320 x 480 resolution, 5 mega-pixel auto-focus camera, 3.5 mm audio jack, and a custom built HTC user interface.
HTC Hero featuring HTC Sense
Here’s the full specification of the HTC Hero handset:
The HTC Hero Android phone will launch across Europe in July, followed by Asia, and the US later in 2009.
The HTC Hero phone will be available in 7 different colour styles including black, white, yellow, pink, gold, red and turqouise, and will include the much anticipated custom HTC Android user interface ‘Rosie’.
The Brithis newspaper Guardian announced that Nokia would work on a Smartphone on base of the Google Android platform. Since Nokia has always been working with their own Symbian platform this would be a step into a completely new direction. However, Nokia is denying this statement.
The new touchscreen featured device shall at Nokia World Congress 2009 in September declares Guardian according to an unnamen industrial insider. One reason for this new direction could be the fact that Nokia’s popularity compared to Apple, RIM and HTC is shrinking.
Although the number of Android phones is rather small at the moment, various device manufacturers have announced to launch devices using the Google operating system.
However, Android running on a Nokia device would be a unsuspected surprise since Nokia took over all parts of Symbian for about 264 Mio. last year. Since Nokia plans to abandon the S60 series that shall be replaces by Qt, according to a speaker, Symbian should become an open source rival for Android.
Additionally, Nokia announced a cooperation with Intel at the end of June 2009. Both companies would like to see devices beyond Smartphones, Notebooks and Netbooks. Regarding this aspect the linux based systems Moblin (Intel / Linux Foundation) and Maemo (Nokia) should come into effect.
Bitstream Inc. announced that the BOLTTM mobile browser, the company’s web browser for mobile phones of all types, has passed a major milestone, achieving its one millionth install just 18 weeks – just over four months – after its public debut.The BOLT mobile browser, built to be used on a wide range of mobile phones from simple “feature” phones to more advanced devices such as BlackBerry smartphones, has averaged greater than 50 percent growth in usage each month since the application made its public debut at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this past February. Since its introduction, BOLT users have consumed more than 22 terabytes (22,000 gigabytes) of data from 61 million web pages.
“It’s been fascinating to see the similarities in how BOLT is being used by people all over the world, despite different geographies, languages and cultures,” said Anna Chagnon, president and CEO of Bitstream. “For example, social networking is extremely popular all around the world. In some countries Facebook is the number one website visited by BOLT users, while in other countries Orkut leads. Even though the web destinations may be different, the usage patterns are strikingly similar all over the globe.”
BOLT users worldwide are discovering that BOLT’s enhanced browsing experience leads them to spend more and more time surfing the Web from their mobile phones. More than 20 percent of BOLT users spend 30 minutes surfing the Internet per session, with more than half of those – a figure that continues to grow – spending more than an hour per session. In addition to social networking, search, web-based email and video websites are top ten destinations all around the world.
Built with proprietary compression, navigation and rendering technologies, BOLT enables users to find and read information quickly and easily. Once users have navigated to the specific section of the large web page they are viewing, they can then zoom in to display clear text and images that look crisp on even small mobile phone screens.
People are particularly enjoying the video streaming feature of the BOLT browser – the only mobile browser that lets people enjoy streaming videos on average mobile phones from such popular video services as YouTube, vids.myspace.com, video.yahoo.com, blip.tv, dailymotion.com, metacafe.com and more. Of the total bandwidth used by all BOLT users surfing the Internet, a substantial portion was consumed by streaming video.
