Techno-News Blog

May 31, 2012

High-Tech Immigrants Needed, but Immigrants Need Not Apply

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By ROBERT A. LEVINE, TMV

Engineers and scientists are desperately needed by many high-tech firms. However, positions are going unfilled because there are not enough trained Americans to fill them and immigration policy doesn’t allow enough visas to be granted to qualified immigrants who would be happy to take these jobs. And it’s not only in established businesses where immigrants bolster the economy. One study showed that foreign-born entrepreneurs started more than 25% of the technology and engineering firms in the U.S. between 1995 and 2005. Businesses created by immigrants generated $52 billion in sales and had 450,000 employees in 2005. Foreign nationals now comprise the majority of scientists and engineers being trained in the U.S. for advanced degrees. For example, they account for 50% of master’s degrees and 70% of Ph.d degrees in electrical engineering.

http://themoderatevoice.com/147657/high-tech-immigrants-needed-but-immigrants-need-not-applu/

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VIRTUS Chipset Is 1000 Times Faster Than Bluetooth

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by RedOrbit

The demand for faster and faster technology has spurred the development of a wireless millimeter-wave (mm-wave) technology. The VIRTUS chipset, developed jointly by scientists at the Nanyang Technological University and A*STAR’s Institute for Infocomm Research (I²R), transmits large volumes of data at ultra-high speeds of a reported 2 Gigabits per second. That’s 1,000 times faster than Bluetooth. The two institutions, both located in Singapore, developed the chip to address demand for higher speeds for wireless devices. “The demand for ultra high-speed wireless connectivity has fuelled the need for faster data transfer rates. Unfortunately, current technologies are unable to meet these stringent demands,” Professor Yeo Kiat Seng, the principal investigator of the project and Associate Chair of Research at NTU’s School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, said in a statement.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1112542469/virtus-chipset-is-1000-times-faster-than-bluetooth/

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David Holz’s Leap Motion Wants to Kill the Mouse

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By Adam Satariano, Bloomberg Businessweek

A new startup, Leap Motion, is dedicated to changing the way people interact with computers. David Holz and his co-founder, Michael Buckwald, have built a device about the size of a cigarette lighter that contains three tiny cameras inside. It attaches to a computer and turns any PC or Mac into a gesture-recognition device. The idea is similar to the one behind Microsoft’s (MSFT) Kinect, an Xbox add-on that lets people play games just by moving their hands and body. At $70, the Leap Motion is about half the price of a Kinect. It’s also far more accurate, says Holz. The software that analyzes the images from the three cameras can track all 10 of a user’s fingers and detect movements of less than one-hundredth of a millimeter. “It’s so precise that it tracks down to the tendon,” says Andy Miller, a former Apple (AAPL) executive and now a partner at Highland Capital Partners, which has contributed to Leap Motion’s $14.5 million in funding.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-05-24/david-holzs-leap-motion-wants-to-kill-the-mouse

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May 30, 2012

IBM Bans Apple’s Siri on Big Blue Networks for Security Reasons

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By: Darryl K. Taft, eWeek

IBM has banned Apple’s Siri digital assistant–along with other apps and services–from its networks out of concern for security and privacy. Big Blue realizes the move to enable workers to bring their own devices to work offers both benefits and challenges.

As well-mannered and well-intentioned as she may be, Apple’s Siri is not welcome at IBM—at least not on the company’s networks. According to an MIT Technology Review report, IBM has banned the use of Apple’s Siri digital assistant on its networks because of security and privacy concerns. “The company worries that the spoken queries might be stored somewhere,” IBM CIO Jeanette Horan told MIT Technology Review.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/IBM-Bans-Apples-Siri-on-Big-Blue-Networks-for-Security-Reasons-830647/

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Windows 8 Look to Redefine PC Experience

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by Darryl K. Taft, eWeek

Windows 8 is a chance for Microsoft and its partners to put the PC back at the center of people’s lives, while also expanding into tablets—an area Apple has dominated with the iPad. On May 21, Microsoft shared details on the multi-monitor experience for Windows 8. “From the very first public release and demonstrations of Windows 8, we have shown improvements over Windows 7 for multi-monitor scenarios and have shown how we support new Metro-style apps within a multi-monitor environment,” said Microsoft’s Windows president Steven Sinofsky. “We have continued to develop and refine features for multiple monitors and have significantly enhanced the experience as we move to our next milestone, the Release Preview.” Here, eWEEK looks at what Windows 7 has to offer both business users and consumers, and previews what people can expect from Microsoft Windows 8 and what the company has done since the release of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview and earlier versions of the new operating system.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Microsoft-Windows-7-Windows-8-Look-to-Redefine-PC-Experience-184311/

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iPhone 5 Will Be ‘Completely Redesigned,’ Resemble iPad: Analysts

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By: Michelle Maisto, eWeek

The iPhone 5 is expected to arrive in October featuring a “completely redesigned body style,” say analysts. Meanwhile, the iPhone 3GS will be marketed to the developing world. A “completely redesigned” Apple iPhone 5 will arrive in October, according to analysts with Piper Jaffray. There have been a lot of conflicting reports about when the new iPhone would arrive but the analysts are “confident,” in their time frame, according to the May 21 research note. Jefferies analysts also released an Apple-related note May 21, and together the two reports offer a picture of what’s to come from Apple and what’s likely to be phased out. The launch of the iPhone 5—as the newest model is expected to be called—will represent the biggest product launch of the year, as well as the biggest device upgrade cycle “in smartphone history,” wrote Piper Jaffray analysts Gene Munster and Douglas J. Clinton.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/iPhone-5-Will-Be-Completely-Redesigned-Resemble-iPad-Analysts-174315/

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May 29, 2012

Is Mobile Computing Good For Productivity?

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By Jessica Leber, Technology Review

Yes, of course, but things got out of hand. A quarter of executives admit to having slept with a smart phone. Consultant Deborah Lovich could be accomplishing the management feat of the mobile era. She’s convinced hundreds of agile-thumbed, on-at-all-hours colleagues to put down their smart phones and stop working or checking e-mail all evening long. True, the break happens only once a week. But Boston Consulting Group’s “predictable time off” experiment has been a hit. Since it was widely introduced in 2009, more than 900 internal teams have taken part, and the program has become standard practice at most BCG offices in North America and Europe.

http://www.technologyreview.com/business/40325/?p1=BI

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My So-Called Quantified Life

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By Rachel Metz, Technology Review

Until recently, I didn’t pay much attention to the data that makes up my life—how many steps I take each day or miles I bike each week, how often I update my Facebook status, feel stressed out, or have a drink. A growing group of people do track this sort of data as part of the “quantified self” movement—everything from mood ratings to exercise routines to sleeping and eating habits. The idea is that this kind of tracking can teach us valuable things about ourselves and help us make better choices. Even if we think we know ourselves, the theory goes, tracking can yield surprises.

http://www.technologyreview.com/web/40453/?p1=A1

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Science Journal Produces a Different Kind of Viral Video

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By Conor Myhrvold, Technology Review

The world’s first peer-reviewed video journal gives scientists a better way to show others how to replicate experiments. If a photo is worth a thousand words, imagine the understanding that can be captured from 10 minutes at 30 frames per second. A scientific journal dedicated to video—a medium seldom seen in peer-reviewed publications—is finding out. Increasingly, scientists include short video clips when they submit their manuscripts to a journal. But the Journal of Visualized Experiments—JoVE for short—is an online journal where video is the main medium rather than a supplement.

http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/40444/?p1=A2

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May 28, 2012

Google’s Goggles Spotted on Streets of SF

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by Rachel Metz, Technology Review

Google co-founder Sergey Brin was spotted Wednesday wearing the search leader’s forthcoming augmented reality goggles in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood.  In April, Google confirmed it was working on glasses that can do things like show maps, messages and other information by releasing a mocked up video of a person using the glasses to take photos, receive messages, share videos of what they’re seeing, and obtain directions. Like Google’s press images for what it calls “Project Glass,” the glasses Brin wore while walking down King Street were lens-free with a small, clear prism-like display mounted above the right eye.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/27872/?p1=blogs

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What if you could have actual humans read websites to you?

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by David Zax, Technology Review

I love being read to, but the last person I would have read to me would be Stephen Hawking. For all the wonders of text-to-voice and voice synthesizing technology, there’s still no match for an old-fashioned, human voice when it comes to having someone read aloud to you. Which is why SpokenLayer, a new startup that brings a human voice to web content, is an absolutely brilliant idea. (It launched in public beta this week at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York, where the startup is based.) SpokenLayer, currently available as an iOS app, taps professional voice talent to read web content, or allows authors of web content to create their own recorded versions.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/helloworld/27875/?p1=blogs

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Make Publicly Funded Research Freely Available!

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by Creative Commons

Open access advocates in the United States and around the world are rallying around a petition that urges public access to publicly funded research. The petition is now live on Whitehouse.gov’s We the People platform:

Require free access over the Internet to scientific journal articles arising from taxpayer-funded research.

We believe in the power of the Internet to foster innovation, research, and education. Requiring the published results of taxpayer-funded research to be posted on the Internet in human and machine readable form would provide access to patients and caregivers, students and their teachers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and other taxpayers who paid for the research. Expanding access would speed the research process and increase the return on our investment in scientific research.

http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/32727

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May 27, 2012

Google has acquired Motorola Mobility

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by Larry Page, Google Blog

The phones in our pockets have become supercomputers that are changing the way we live. It’s now possible to do things we used to think were magic, or only possible on Star Trek–like get directions right from where we are standing; watch a video on YouTube; or take a picture and share the moment instantly with friends.  It’s why I’m excited to announce today that our Motorola Mobility deal has closed. Motorola is a great American tech company that has driven the mobile revolution, with a track record of over 80 years of innovation, including the creation of the first cell phone. We all remember Motorola’s StarTAC, which at the time seemed tiny and showed the real potential of these devices. And as a company who made a big, early bet on Android, Motorola has become an incredibly valuable partner to Google.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/weve-acquired-motorola-mobility.html

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For $74, a Mini-Android Computer

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by David Zax, Technology Review

Ars Technica and others report on a cool miniature Android computer that can plug directly into your TV. The whole thing is housed in a 3.5-inch plastic case, weighs in at 200 grams, and measures roughly the size of a USB thumb drive (a tiny bit bigger, actually.) It’s being sold by Chinese retailers, and you can get yourself one online for the low price of $74 (or 5% off, if you order 5 or more). Some specs for you (get ready for some alphabet soup): an HDMI port that plugs into your TV (1080p), 512MB of RAM, a 4GB Flash drive (plus a micoSD slot that can bump you up to 32GB). For connectivity, there’s WiFi 802.11b/g.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/helloworld/27867/?p1=blogs

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Biophoton Communication: Can Cells Talk Using Light?

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by kfc, Technology Review

One of the more curious backwaters of biology is the study of biophotons: optical or ultraviolet photons emitted by living cells in a way that is distinct from conventional bioluminescence. Nobody is quite sure how cells produce biophotons but the latest thinking is that various molecular processes can emit photons and that these are transported to the cell surface by energy carying excitons. A similar process carries the energy from photons across giant protein matrices during photosynthesis. Whatever the mechanism, a growing number of biologists are convinced that when you switch off the lights, cells are bathed in the pale fireworks of a biophoton display. This is not a bright phenomena. Biophotons are usually produced at the rate of dozens per second per square centimetre of cell culture. That’s not many.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/27869/?p1=blogs

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May 26, 2012

Net savvy seniors: Teens help Park Place residents learn Web skills

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By Russ Corey, Times Daily

At 91 years old, Pauline Foster said there’s not much that frightens her anymore, including technology. Some years ago, her son gave her a computer and encouraged her to learn how to use it. At the time, however, she was too busy with volunteer work. That changed when her physician told her to slow down, and Tuesday, she was one of four Park Place residents participating in a computer class taught by Sheffield High School students. “I know absolutely nothing about computers,” Foster said before the class began. “I’m kind of excited.” Foster is one of about a dozen Park Place residents participating in “Shockwaves,” the program developed by Sheffield High School students with the help of guidance counselor, Melissa Ryan. The classes are taught twice a week to residents of the downtown Sheffield residential complex, which is primarily geared toward older residents.

http://www.timesdaily.com/stories/Net-savvy-seniors,190800

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New Video Streaming Technology Being Developed

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by Red Orbit

The Wi-Fi Alliance is adopting a new technology that should boost data speeds of over 10 times at short distances, which could replace video cables in the home entertainment center. The industry group that supports Wi-Fi said it is joining with Wireless Gigabit Alliance, or WiGig, which has been developing ways to exploit the 60-gigahertz frequency band for extremely high data speeds between devices in the same room. Wi-Fi Alliance marketing director Kelley Davis-Felner told the Associated Press (AP) the technology would probably take two years in order to show up in products. The first ones might be Blu-Ray players that send their high-definition video signal wirelessly to compatible TV sets. Portable devices like video cameras could later have the ability to send video wirelessly.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1862801/new_video_streaming_technology_being_developed/

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Faster, More Energy Efficient Computer Components On The Way

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by Red Orbit

A pair of new computer components unveiled late this week — one which will require less energy to store and retrieve information, and one which improves power and resource efficiency by occasionally allowing errors to occur — could one day fundamentally change the technology behind desktops, laptops, and similar devices. The first of those two units is known as a “memristor,” and according to BBC News Science and Technology Reporter Jason Palmer, its properties “make it suitable for both for computing and for far faster, denser memory.” The theoretical concept of the memristor, which derives its name from the words memory and resistor, was first proposed roughly four decades ago, though a first prototype of the component was not possible until 2008, Palmer said.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1112538393/faster-more-energy-efficient-computer-components-on-the-way/

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May 25, 2012

Schools Go Into the ‘Cloud’ to Embrace the Popularity of Social Media

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By SONIA KOLESNIKOV-JESSOP, New York Times

The newest catchphrase in online education is social learning. Several start-up companies have begun offering cloud-based platforms that combine education and social media. Companies like Teamie, based in Singapore, provide software that lets teachers create, share and manage academic content, and also let students collaborate on assignments on platforms that are similar to the “walls” used on Facebook.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/world/asia/schools-go-into-the-cloud-to-embrace-the-popularity-of-social-media.html?_r=1

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IBM Faces the Perils of “Bring Your Own Device”

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By Brian Bergstein

When IBM loosened its restrictions on the smart phones and tablets its employees could use for work, the company got a lesson in IT management of the kind it usually sells to clients. In 2010, like many large companies in recent years, IBM adopted a “bring your own device” policy, meaning that employees who want to work outside the office don’t have to use a smart phone provided by the company. Although IBM still gives BlackBerrys to about 40,000 of its 400,000 employees, 80,000 other workers now reach internal IBM networks using other smart phones and tablets, including ones they purchased for themselves. The trend toward employee-owned devices isn’t saving IBM any money, says Jeanette Horan, who is IBM’s chief information officer and oversees all the company’s internal use of IT. Instead, she says, it has created new challenges for her department of 5,000 people, because employees’ devices are full of software that IBM doesn’t control.

http://www.technologyreview.com/business/40324/?p1=BI

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What’s the Next Instagram?

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By Rachel Metz

Ever since Facebook announced its $1 billion acquisition of the company behind the popular photo-sharing app Instagram last month, the question on every nerd’s lips has been: What will be the next big thing in mobile apps? For many, the answer is video. Apps like Viddy and Socialcam have picked up steam, gaining users—including pop stars Justin Bieber and Britney Spears—who are shooting and sharing videos with others within the apps and on social networks. Like Instagram, many of these apps also include a number of effects you can use to give your videos an edge, such as filters and background music.

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/40429/?p1=A2

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