Techno-News Blog

by the BBC

The first data on how Americans are using new media to engage with the arts shows a surprising link between internet use and actual attendance. Many experts had thought that technology had caused a decline in audiences for live events. But the report from the National Endowment for the Arts shows that Americans who participate through electronic media are three times more likely to go to a gallery, theater or concert than those who never go online or use an electronic device. Jane O’Brien reports.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/8986280.stm

by Harry McCracken, Technologizer PC World

New models emphasize 3D, audio and an adapter that lets users stream high-definition movies from a computer to an HDTV. HP is anouncing a bunch of consumer laptop news today, including models with emphasis on 3D, audio, and cool performance–plus an adapter that lets users stream high-definition movies from a computer to an HDTV. I got a preview during press briefings which the company held last week. The most striking new product is the Envy 17 3D, a version of HP’s high-performance, high-style 17-inch Envy that’s ready for 3D Blu-Ray movies.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/204667/new_hp_laptops_feature_3d_wireless_hdtv_streaming.html?tk=hp_new

By KEITH PARADISE, Public Opinion Online

Old operating systems and life support for computer servers in local school districts are becoming more common as budget cuts affect the technology line item. Budget deficits and dwindling tax bases saw school districts across the region cutting budgets that would have replaced, upgraded or maintained software and purchased new computers. Most districts are simply working to maintain the current infrastructure that they have in place.

http://www.publicopiniononline.com/localnews/ci_15968612

by News4Us

The Sony Corporation seems to have embraced the newly released home 3D technology with unbridled vigor and tailored personal electronic products to take advantage of this new fast growing Hi-tech sector. In 2011 one of the first ever 3D PC laptops will hit the market. This newly developed 3D laptop has been manufactured by Sony Corporation and sales for the new technology are expected to push all time records. The Vaio 3D laptop is able to display 3D video and the soon to be released 3D games at a resolution of up to 1080p.

http://www.news4us.com/sony-takes-3d-technology-to-the-limits/221072/

by Stephen Shankland, CNET news.com

It’s been two years since the first public version of Chrome appeared, but in some ways, Google’s browser remains a novelty. On Thursday, Google released the sixth stable version of Chrome (Windows | Mac | Linux), though only the second for Mac OS and Linux users. In others’ hands, it would be called Chrome 6, but Google sees things differently. To the company, a version number is a passing milestone on an indefinitely long road to improvement. By default, the browser is updated behind the scenes and automatically, downloading new versions and installing them after a browser restart. It sees the practice as similar to how Web applications are updated constantly, usually without the user being involved and often without even being told.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20015411-264.html

by PhysOrg.com

Dark silicon refers to the huge swaths of silicon transistors on today’s chips that are underused because there is not enough power to utilize all the transistors at the same time. The new GreenDroid chip prototype from computer scientists at UC San Diego will deliver improved performance through specialized processors fashioned from dark silicon. These processors are designed to run heavily used chunks of code, called “hot code,” in Google’s Android smartphone platform. Computer science professors Michael Taylor and Steven Swanson from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering are leading the project

http://www.physorg.com/news202542341.html

By Ryan Fleming, Digital Trends

In 1965, Intel’s co-founder Gordon Moore famously claimed that the number of transistors that can be realistically and inexpensively placed on an integrated circuit should double approximately every two years. The observation became known as Moore’s law, and for over four decades, it has driven the computer industry to continue to push to increase capacities while shrinking computer chips. But eventually things have to stop. The limitations of the current generation of technology are beginning to show, and soon manufacturers will hit a fundamental block based on physics and expenses. Enter a new generation of technology. Scientists at both Rice University and HP are separately reporting that they have both found ways to overcome that fundamental, and fast-approaching barrier. And they’re not alone. Intel, IBM, and others are also expanding their research into new ways to make sure the “good times” continue to roll.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/new-breakthrough-to-shrink-computer-chips-even-smaller/?news=123

By Paul McDougall, InformationWeek

Apple CEO Steve Jobs on Wednesday unveiled a refreshed line of iPods and announced partnerships that could for the first time make his company a major player in the entertainment console wars. Jobs showed off the latest version of the iPod touch, which is the highest-end product in the franchise. The latest edition of the device includes a number of features borrowed from the iPhone 4, including Retina Display, FaceTime video conferencing, and the iOS 4.1 operating system. “We’ve put our most advanced technology inside the new iPod touch,” said Jobs.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/handheld/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=227200170&subSection=All+Stories

HP wants new computer memory technology from Hynix:

By Nick Farrell, the Inquirer

HP has signed a deal with the chipmaker Hynix to commercialise its memristor technology. The innovative memory technology allows more computer memory to be stuffed onto smaller devices. HP and Hynix said we can expect to see something on the shelves in about three years. The most likely application of memristors is for dense nonvolatile memories, like flash memory cards for products like cameras and PCs. But the boffins at HP and Hynix think that it could play a role in other kinds of chips. The idea was first worked out by Leon O Chua, a University of California at Berkeley electrical engineering professor.

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1730584/hp-memory-technology-hynix

by the BBC

The IFA conference has long been a marker of developments in the home computer industry, as desktops became laptops, and netbooks became all-in-one PCs. This year, the focus was on the tablets and clamshells taking on Apple’s iPad. Marc Cieslak went along to find out if this really is the shape of things to come.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/8980381.stm

by the BBC

People are nearly as likely to be web criminals as to be victims of them More than a quarter of people online have lied about their name and more than one in five has done something online they regret, says a new report. The behavioural and psychological impacts of online life are outlined in a report from the security firm Norton. The report suggests that two-thirds of web users have been hit by cybercrime, with the costs and time to resolve the crime varying widely around the world. But a large amount of online dishonesty came from the respondents themselves.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11226786

by the BBC

Help Google has launched a system which enables web links to appear and refresh as soon as characters are typed into the search box on its home page. BBC Technology Correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones says the new method represents a significant change in the industry.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11239103

by Christine Zibas, Gather

Best of all, this new technology is sustainable and safe for the environment. As reported by Discovery News, “The new cathode, which builds on the MIT group’s earlier work building a battery anode and cathode, is also environmentally friendly because it happens at room temperature and in water. The MIT research is green in name, but the University of Maryland research could literally be green.” For now, the viruses are produced in lab settings, but the idea is to eventually grow and harvest them in the field.

http://technology.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978483724

By Alex Moore, Death + Taxes

HP has just announced a major partnership with a semi-conductor company and IBM, Intel and others are pursuing a technology called phase-change memory, which reinvents the standard chip format. Investments in new chip technologies can cost up to $4 billion for each facility dedicated to building the new devices. I’m sure no one knows what advances like phase-change memory computing will bring, but if history shows us anything, it’s that there will always be a guy like Steve Jobs to employ it in creating new functions we never even knew we wanted, but suddenly can’t live without.

http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/26427/computer-technology-about-to-get-way-smaller/

by United Press International

U.S. scientists say new technologies may bypass barriers to the miniaturization of computer memory, vital to the consumer electronics revolution. The limits of physics had loomed as a possible slowdown in the pace of miniaturization that has allowed the ability to pack ever more power into ever-smaller devices such as laptops, smart phones and digital cameras, The New York Times reported. Now two emerging technologies could overcome that barrier, researchers say.

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/08/31/Quest-for-more-computer-memory-ongoing/UPI-75781283274709/

by Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC

Rivals to the iPad have been unveiled as the IFA tech show gets underway in Berlin. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and Toshiba’s Folio 100 run on the Android 2.2 operating system. It allows the mini computers without keyboards to play flash video – the most popular format in the world. But their sizes also set them apart from the iPad as BBC Technology Correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones found out.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11173449

by the BBC

3D video cameras and TVs that connect to web-based on-demand services are on display at the IFA technology show in Berlin. A 31-inch ultra flat and bright OLED TV is among exhibits that have grabbed the attention of BBC Technology Correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11178043

by the BBC

Many tiny cells work together in a “photoelectrochemical cell” Researchers have demonstrated tiny solar cells just billionths of a metre across that can repair themselves, extending their useful lifetime. The cells make use of proteins from the machinery of plants, turning sunlight into electric charges that can do work. The cells simply assemble themselves from a mixture of the proteins, minute tubes of carbon and other materials. The self-repairing mechanism, reported in Nature Chemistry, could lead to much longer-lasting solar cells.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11181753

by Aprill Brandon, Victoria Advocate

When Jamie Theisman, of Victoria, first saw “Avatar” in 3-D at the theater, she was in complete awe. The experience made her a hardcore convert to the three-dimensional world many of today’s films create. “It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. I felt I was immersed in this new world, and I was inside the story,” she added. “I love this new 3-D trend. Anytime there is a movie in 3-D, I make sure I go see it. It makes whatever movie you’re watching so much better.” Theisman is not alone. Money talks and audiences are chattering away with their wallets. Not only did moviegoers make “Avatar” the highest-grossing film of all time, but studios can expect to see anywhere from a 30- to 50-percent increase in box office sales for films made or converted in 3-D, according to ScreenRant.com movie critic Paul Young.

http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2010/aug/29/ab_pro_3d_movies_083010_108834/?features&local-entertainment

by Carol Sorgen, Washington Post

In the market for a career that offers plenty of job growth? Think technology. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s predictions for the fastest-growing careers, technology¿in any number of forms¿is almost a sure bet. Computer-related jobs are especially high on the Department’s list. “In the Information Technology sector, we have seen a significant growth in information security,” explains Edward Wilde, Director of Talent and Learning for Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies (SGT, Inc.) in Greenbelt, Maryland.. “Companies need to stay in front of the hackers and protect their data, so this will most likely continue to be a growth area.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/30/AR2010083002252.html

by the Clarion Ledger

Although 3D TVs have been around for more than a year, we can expect new technology from most of the major consumer electronics makers, such as Sony, Samsung, LG and Toshiba, since they all made a good showing at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. JVC and Mitsubishi also have similar technology. But Panasonic walked away with the CES Best in Show award for its 3D Plasma TV technology. Since January, the Panasonic gurus have been rolling out announcement after announcement about 3D products.

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20100829/COL0101/8290349/1300/biz/3D-technology-taking-off-with-home-TV-viewers-in-mind