Gesture Control Software

PointGrab Ltd. is a leading provider of advanced Hand Gesture Recognition Software (HGRS) using 
a standard 2D camera, which can accurately and reliably track human hands individually for up to 5 
meters. The PointGrab HGRS solution is ideal for use with a wide range of PCs including Desktops, Laptops, Notebooks, and All-in-Ones (AIOs).

PointGrab Advantages

·         Intuitive & Powerful Innovation: Allows use of intuitive hand gestures to remotely control a wide range of devices and platforms.

·         Lower in Cost (than competing hardware solutions): A software-only solution, requires only a standard 2D camera.

·         Short Time-to-Market: Rapid, simple integration into a wide range of PC models.

·         Easy to Integrate: No dedicated hardware or industrial design changes are required.

·         Easy Development for 3rd Parties: A convenient SDK allows application developers to easily integrate hand gestures into their apps.

·         Flexible: Supports a wide range of applications and enables both predefined and customized gesture support.

·         Reliable: Works in a wide range of lighting and background conditions. Can be combined with IR LED to work in completely dark rooms.

STEAM OS

According to Valve's site, "SteamOS combines the rock-solid architecture of Linux with a gaming experience built for the big screen. It will be available soon as a free stand-alone operating system for living room machines."

SteamOS will tie in with Steam, and "you don’t have to give up your favorite games, your online friends, and all the Steam features you love just to play on the big screen. SteamOS, running on any living room machine, will provide access to the best games and user-generated content available."

Valve says Steam OS has "achieved significant performance increases in graphics processing, and we’re now targeting audio performance and reductions in input latency at the operating system level. Game developers are already taking advantage of these gains as they target SteamOS for their new releases."

"Steam is not a one-way content broadcast channel, it’s a collaborative many-to-many entertainment platform, in which each participant is a multiplier of the experience for everyone else," Valve writes. "With SteamOS, “openness” means that the hardware industry can iterate in the living room at a much faster pace than they’ve been able to. Content creators can connect directly to their customers. Users can alter or replace any part of the software or hardware they want. Gamers are empowered to join in the creation of the games they love. SteamOS will continue to evolve, but will remain an environment designed to foster these kinds of innovation."

Welcome to iPhone 5s

Apple launched its new smartphones, iPhone 5s and 5c. The smartphone giant has included a biometric device in iPhone 5s called Touch ID, which is a fingerprint sensor that allows users to unlock their iPhone or authenticate downloads from App Store, iTunes or iBooks, by simply placing their finger on the device.

The implementation of a biometric device in the iPhone 5S is a very interesting functionality. This functionality allows users to make payments safely on  iTunes or on other secure websites.

With the improvement in technology, biometric systems have evolved significantly in recent years and, as we can see, a fingerprint sensor today could be a strong system that is straightforward to bypass . This solution may seem to be out of a 007 film but duplicate fingerprints or a finger that is cut off from owner, are classical techniques to crack a control system based on fingerprint technology. Some cars like the Mercedes S-class have biometric systems, although you can bypass security using an amputated finger. I know it sounds morbid, but there have been incidents of car thefts in Malaysia using amputated fingers.

So, is it possible to surround Touch ID using a fake finger or a cut off finger silicone fake? The answer to this question is quite simple. No, it is not possible. Apple is not the first company to design a robust fingerprint sensor that is able to “avoid dead fingers”.  In fact, for years, many firms using security systems, use technologies that are able to detect blood flow in a finger (or hand). This way, the system can confirm whether the finger on the reader actually belongs to a living person (heart rate, temperature, etc.).

In the case of the iPhone 5S, no checking or transaction is done with an image or probing finger temperature. Here, the technology is based on a capacitive sensor that is able to detect the layers of our skin and generate a reliable map of our footprint and their reaction to an electromagnetic field (which is employed to observe skin layers).

Obviously, if we use our finger on a silicone that mimics the footprint of another, Touch ID will not work because the layer structure of our skin will not match the owner of the device (although we have a good replica of the fingerprint).

In short, if you distrusted the fingerprint sensor of iPhone 5S and feared the worst,  you can actually be calm and not fear you will lose one of your fingers.

The detection of “dead fingers” is something that has been in use in biometrics for many years and is not designed exclusively for Apple. But we must recognize that the Apple inclusion in a smartphone is a groundbreaking concept and quite original.

Reflecting on the future of such a system, I do not think it will be long before we see it in other manufacturer’s designs especially those who like to focus on providing their users with an extra level of security.

Graphene Computer Chip Runs on Light ,Not Electricity

Computing is getting a little greener, thanks to a material called graphene.

New studies suggest that integrating the "strongest material in the world" into computer chips would allow them to run off of light. Currently, most chips require electricity.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia University and IBM’s T. J. Watson Research Center led the studies, which were published in Nature Photonics. The chip uses incoming light to knock electrons out, converting them into electrical energy.

According to MIT, the new chips could cut back on power consumption and heat production. As another bonus, the chips could be faster and cheaper to make.

This isn't the first we've heard about graphene. In February, the European Union gave Nokia a $1.35 billion grant to develop the material, which is reportedly only one atom thick and 300 times stronger than steel.

In 2010, two graphene researchers won the Nobel Prize in Physics for demonstrating how the transparent and flexible material could be used to make touchscreens, light panels and solar cells.

iPhone 5s vs iPhone 5:What’s New ?

iPhone 5s vs iPhone 5:What’s New

After months of leaks and rumors, the iPhone 5s is finally real.Packing a fingerprint sensor, improved camera, and A7 processor, the revamped smartphone is a significant improvement over the 2012 iPhone 5.

Design

The iPhone 5s looks largely similar to its predecessor, with a few small tweaks. The home button has eschewed the square logo in its center, and is now simply a circular ring that utilizes the device’s new fingerprint scanning technology. The iPhone 5s retains the 2.31 x 4.87 x 0.3-inch, 3.95-ounce build of the original iPhone 5. Probably the biggest change to the design is that while the original iPhone 5 launched in Black/Slate and White/Silver, the 5S will be available in Silver, Space Gray and a Champagne Gold.

Specification

The biggest upgrade to the iPhone 5s is the phone’s A7 processor, which Apple says has a 40 times faster CPU than the original iPhone. Apple claims the 64-bit mobile processor is the first of its kind and will have twice the graphics performance of the iPhone 5.

The iPhone 5s has the same 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi support as the iPhone 5. However, the new model is designed to deliver 10 hours of talk time on 3G, 10 hours of Web browsing on Wi-Fi and LTE (8 hours on 3G), 10 hours of video playback and 40 hours of music listening. The 5 only offered 8 hours of 3G talk time and 8 hours of LTE Web browsing.

Like the standard iPhone 5, the 5s will have a 4-inch, 1136 x 640-pixel Retina Display screen.

New Features

The iPhone family now has its first fingerprint sensor with the 5s’ Touch ID technology. This new feature takes a high-res image of your fingerprint with a laser cut sapphire crystal, which allows the phone to store a detailed fingerprint image that can be read from multiple angles. Touch ID will be used to unlock the iPhone 5s, and can be used for confirming App Store purchases for those who’d rather not type their password in repeatedly.

With the iPhone 5s’s new M7 motion coprocessor (something the iPhone 5 didn’t have), the handset can keep track of users’ motions more accurately than ever without overloading the CPU.  The new coprocessor will allow for improved fitness apps, as the chip measures user movement even when the phone is in sleep mode.

3 things to note about the Galaxy Note 3

Sammy introduced its Galaxy Note 3 at a glitzy press event in Berlin.The Note 3 is focused largely on refining and improving the existing Note experience -- a welcome change from the typical "jam-40,000-new-features-in-there-and-see-what-sticks" approach Samsung tends to take with its mobile products.

There's a lot to say about the new Galaxy Note 3 -- and a lot to wrap your head around. Let's boil it down to five key points:

1. The Galaxy Note 3 has improved hardware all around.

There's no question the new Note is a meaningful upgrade over its predecessor. The Note 3 has a 5.7-in. 1080p AMOLED display compared to the Note II's 5.5-in. 720p screen.

Despite the increased display size, the new Note is actually about the same size as last year's model -- a bit thinner and lighter, even.

The Note 3 packs a 13-megapixel camera, up from last year's 8MP. It also runs on a new 2.3GHz quad-core chip (for the LTE version) along with 3GB of RAM, which should -- theoretically -- make for impeccable performance.

2. The Note 3 has a new but familiar look.

Samsung's switched to a more squared-off look with the Note 3, and -- perhaps most notably -- has moved to a faux-leather look on the phone's back that brings to mind a paper-notebook-like design.

That said, the Note 3 still looks very much like a Samsung Galaxy product. And the back, while a definite step away from the oft-criticized glossy plastic of yore, is, in fact, still a thin, removable plastic panel.

3. The Note 3 has several new S Pen capabilities.

The S Pen is the Note's true calling card, and with the Note 3, the stylus is starting to seem more like an integral part of the phone-using experience than an easily overlooked accessory.

The Note 3 introduces a new S Pen command center known as Air Command. You simply click the button on the side of the stylus while holding it above the screen, and a semicircle of options appears on top whatever else you're viewing.

Air Command gives you a one-stop shop for creating interactive notes, saving URL-tagged screenshots of information for later viewing, and searching through your previously saved content.

Perhaps most interestingly, it also lets you run certain applications in a small movable window, similar to a feature we first saw in LG's Optimus G Pro. The function is limited to a handful of specific apps -- it won't work with just anything -- but it's still a cool and potentially useful concept that puts the large screen size to good use.

ADROID 4.4 KITKAT

PREPARE FOR A SWEET NEW TREAT

Android is the operating system that powers over 1 billion smartphones and tablets. Since these devices make our lives so sweet, each Android version is named after a dessert: Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, and Jelly Bean. As everybody finds it difficult to stay away from chocolate we decided to name the next version of Android after one of our favorite chocolate treats, Kitkat.

To make this release even sweeter, Kit Kat is giving you the chance to win a Nexus 7 or Google Play credit. Just look for specially branded Kit Kat candy bars featuring the Android robot in a store near you.

Google says that "it's our goal with Android KitKat to make an amazing Android experience available for everybody." That's certainly a bit vague, but the statement does line up with earlier rumors that suggested Google plans to use its next Android release in smartwatches, gaming consoles, low-cost smartphones, and even laptops.

Samsung Youm Flexible Display

Samsung announced at their CES keynote that they’re working on a flexible OLED display  technology called Youm.

They say that the Youm has much better colors and contrast compared to other displays out there, and all in a super thin, flexible form factor.

The flexible display is, of course, bendable, and it allows you to see what’s on the screen from any angle. The prototype shown even had a screen that stretched above the device, so that you can see notifications and content even when the device is laid on a flat surface. The display will allow various other manufacturers to make bendable, rollable, and foldable displays.

Samsung demonstrated the Youm concept in a promotional video, where a guy pulls out a device that folds like a wallet. The device doubles as a phone and a tablet. The same video also shows the guy literally rolling out a tablet.

Of course Youm is still a prototype, so we’re not sure when we’ll see it launch in the market. It’ll be amazing to see this type of display featured on various Android devices, and we know that Android developers will take full advantage of the new display technology.