Biohacker Implants Smartphone-Sized Sensor Into His Arm

The above image is a photo of biohacker Tim Cannon, the so-called “DIY Cyborg” who implanted a Circadia 1.0 computer chip the size of a smartphone under the skin of his forearm.

The wirelessly charged sensor, developed over the course of 18 months by Cannon and his fellow hackers/artists at Grindhouse Wetware, monitors his vital signs, then transmits that real-time data via Bluetooth to his Android device.

Cannon told Vice’s Motherboard that Circadia 1.0 could “send me a text message if it thinks that I’m getting a fever.” The device could then help determine what factors are causing the fever. Future versions of the sensor are expected to monitor the pulse and — thankfully — come in a smaller, less ghastly package.

As if the bulging device, bruised skin and crude stitches weren’t an obvious giveaway, the procedure was not medically approved, so Cannon recruited some body modification pioneers to perform the surgery. Not only that, he did it “raw dog,” without anesthesia.

“I think that our environment should listen more accurately and more intuitively to what’s happening in our body,” Cannon said. “So if, for example, I’ve had a stressful day, the Circadia will communicate that to my house and will prepare a nice relaxing atmosphere for when I get home: dim the lights, let in a hot bath.”

Cannon expects the first production series of the chip to be ready in a few months and said it will cost around $500. But since the implant procedure will certainly still be medically unapproved, interested hackers will have to seek out the body modification community to have it done. Steve Haworth, the body modification expert who conducted Cannon’s surgery, said he would charge around $200 for the procedure.

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."

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.

BLINK: A Rendering Engine For The Chromium Project

Blink is a web browser engine developed by Google and Opera Software ASA as part of the Chromium project, first announced in April 2013. It is a fork of the WebCore component of  WebKit and is used in Chrome , Opera  and other Chromium based browsers.

WebKit is a lightweight yet powerful rendering engine that emerged out of KHTML in 2001. Its flexibility, performance and thoughtful design made it the obvious choice for Chromium's rendering engine back when we started. Thanks to the hard work by all in the community, WebKit has thrived and kept pace with the web platform’s growing capabilities since then.

However, Chromium uses a different multi-process architecture than other WebKit-based browsers, and supporting multiple architectures over the years has led to increasing complexity for both the WebKit and Chromium projects. This has slowed down the collective pace of innovation - so today, we are introducing Blink, a new open source rendering engine based on WebKit.

This was not an easy decision.The introduction of a new rendering engine can have significant implications for the web. Having multiple rendering engines—similar to having multiple browsers—will spur innovation and over time improve the health of the entire open web ecosystem.

In the short term, Blink will bring little change for web developers. The bulk of the initial work will focus on internal architectural improvements and a simplification of the codebase. For example, we anticipate that we’ll be able to remove 7 build systems and delete more than 7,000 files—comprising more than 4.5 million lines—right off the bat. Over the long term a healthier codebase leads to more stability and fewer bugs.

UBUNTU EDGE VS IOS VS ANDROID

	Ubuntu Edge	Apple iPhone 5	Samsung Galaxy S4
Mobile OS	Dual-boots Android and Ubuntu mobile	iOS	Android
Desktop OS	Ubuntu Desktop	No	No
RAM	4GB	1GB	2GB
Internal storage	128GB	64GB	16GB
Screen	720 x 1,280, 4.5 inches	640 x 1,136, 4 inches	1,080 x 1,920, 5 inches
Protection	Sapphire Glass	Corning Gorilla Glass	Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Connectivity	Dual-LTE, GSM	LTE, GSM	LTE, GSM
Speakers	Stereo	Mono	Mono
Battery	Silicon-anode Li-ion	Li-ion	Li-ion
Price	$695	$849*	$750**

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION

• Dual boot Ubuntu mobile OS and Android
• Fully integrated Ubuntu desktop PC when docked
• Fastest multi-core CPU, 4GB RAM, 128GB storage
• Micro-SIM
• 4.5in 1,280 x 720 HD sapphire crystal display
• 8mp low-light rear camera, 2mp front camera
• Dual-LTE, dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4, NFC
• GPS, accelerometer, gyro, proximity sensor, compass, barometer
• Stereo speakers with HD audio, dual-mic recording, Active Noise Cancellation
• 11-pin connector providing simultaneous MHL and USB OTG
• 3.5mm jack
• Silicon-anode Li-Ion battery
• 64 x 9 x 124mm

PROJECT LOON-Balloon Powered Internet

What is Project Loon ?

Project Loon is a study and development project being developed by Google with the mission of providing Internet access to rural and remote areas.

Technology

The balloons will drift through the stratosphere—which is about twice as high as commercial planes fly—to deliver 3G service to off-the-grid areas. They are carried around the Earth by winds and they can be steered by rising or descending to an altitude with winds moving in the desired direction. People connect to the balloon network using a special Internet antenna attached to their building. The signal bounces from balloon to balloon, then to the global Internet back on Earth.

Google launched 30 balloons so far around Canterbury, New Zealand, as part of an effort to build a global ring of balloon-borne Internet relay points in the stratosphere. Depending on the success of the project, Google had decided to carry Project Loon to different nations and looks like India might be one of the lucky ones.

A decade ago, the European Union founded the CAPANINA project to deliver broadband from high-altitude platforms in the stratosphere. Back in 2005, it successfully produced broadband wireless access at distances of up to 37 miles (60 kilometers) from a free-floating balloon in the stratosphere over northern Sweden.

Tim Tozer, an expert on wireless, satellite, and HAP communications at the University of York in Great Britain, was part of that effort. He spoke with National Geographic about the current state of the science—and the promising future beyond Google's balloons.

                                                

HOW LOON WORKS

Project Loon balloons travel around 20 km above the Earth’s surface in the stratosphere. Winds in the stratosphere are generally steady and slow-moving at between 5 and 20 mph, and each layer of wind varies in direction and magnitude. Project Loon uses software algorithms to determine where its balloons need to go, then moves each one into a layer of wind blowing in the right direction. By moving with the wind, the balloons can be arranged to form one large communications network.Project Loon is able to take advantage of the steady stratospheric winds, and remain well above weather events, wildlife and airplanes.    
                                                   

 

HOW IS LOON DESIGNED

The balloon envelope is the name for the inflatable part of the balloon. The balloons are made of polyethylene plastic. They are approximately 15 meters in diameter and the entire apparatus is about 12 meters tall. Each balloon is powered via solar panels. They are specially constructed for use in superpressure balloons, which are longer-lasting than weather balloons because they can withstand higher pressure from the air inside when the balloons reach float altitude. A parachute attached to the top of the envelope allows for a controlled descent and landing whenever a balloon is ready to be taken out of service.

The balloons will float along the winds in the stratosphere, approximately 20km above the surface. At such a distance, they cannot be seen with the naked eye. Each balloon is equipped with transceivers to communicate with nearby balloons and with a regional ground station and the specialized antenna Google developed to receive the signal. The balloons provide the equivalent of 3G service using the 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz ISM bands in an area that’s roughly 40 kilometers in diameter. They also communicate with each other to maintain the positioning necessary to form a functioning network.The company adds that the balloons are designed to stay aloft for “100+ days.”

While the project is still in pilot phase and the chances of it coming to India are still isolated, it would definitely be favourable to most Indians. India being a developing nation still needs to reach out to rural areas and educate them about the internet. With Project Loon, rural areas will not just get internet but can even learn more about surfing.

                                                   

NEW FEATURES IN SQL SERVER 2014 !

SQL Server 2014

Microsoft announced SQL Server 2014 at this year’s TechEd 2013 conference in New Orleans. Quentin Clark, Microsoft Corporate Vice President for SQL Server, said that Microsoft is getting ready for the upcoming SQL Server 2014 Community Technology Preview 1, on June 25, 2013 release. Some of the most important new features in SQL Server 2014 include the following :

1.  Hekaton-In-Memory OLTP Engine

The new In-Memory OLTP Engine (formerly code-named Hekaton) will provide OLTP performance improvements by moving selected tables into memory. The In-memory OTLP Engine works with commodity hardware and won’t require any application code changes. A built-in wizard will help you to choose which tables go in memory and select the stored procedures that will be compiled into machine code for high performance execution. Another advantage of Hekaton is that individual rows are never locked even when they are being written into a table. The RDMS writes the updated row to a new location and also maintains a pointer to this location in the old row. This technique is known as ‘Optimistic Concurrency’.

2.  Windows Azure Integrated Backup

The new backup option is integrated into SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). It lets you back up a SQL Server database to Windows Azure. You can also use it to quickly restore database backups to an Azure VM.

3.   xVelocity – Column-store indexes feature of SQL Server 2014

This feature allows continuous loading of data, speeds up query execution by storing columns in an effective way, allows compression of data in the index, enables DBAs to load and delete data in existing column-store indexes, and so on.

4.  Improved Scalability

SQL Server 2014 will have the ability to scale up to 640 logical processors and 4TB of memory in a physical environment. It can scale to 64 virtual processors and 1TB of memory when running in a virtual machine (VM). New buffer pool enhancements increase performance by extending SQL Server’s in-memory buffer pool to SSDs for faster paging.

5.  SQL Server AlwaysOn

AlwaysOn Availability Groups have also been integrated with Azure, providing AlwaysOn capabilities in the cloud. AlwaysOn Azure integration enables you to create asynchronous Availability Group replicas in Azure for disaster recovery.

Like the new Azure backup feature, the Azure AlwaysOn Availability options are completely integrated into SSMS. Other enhancements to AlwaysOn Availability Groups include the ability to have up to eight replicas—up from four in SQL Server 2012.

6.  Business Intelligence and Data Visualization Enhancements

SQL Server 2014 gives you a  new data visualization tool, code-named Data Explorer. Data Explorer enables data analysis in Microsoft Excel, and its can work with a wide variety of sources including relational, structured, and semi-structured data such as OData, Hadoop, and the Azure Marketplace.

The new feature, code-named GEOFlow, will able to provide visual data mapping in Excel. Other BI enhancements include the ability for Power View to work against multidimensional cube data in addition to tabular data models.

7.  Cache frequently used data on Solid State Disks (SSDs)

SQL Server 2014 can cache active and frequently used data in SSD and store others on disks. SSDs come to your help if you are stuck with bigger active data that you cannot fit in memory.

8.  Improved Integration with Windows Server 2012

SQL Server 2014 will also provide support for Windows Server 2012’s new Storage Spaces feature. Storage Spaces enables you to create pools of tiered storage that can improve application availability and performance. SQL Server 2014’s Resource Governor can take advantage of Windows Server 2012’s automated storage tiering. Plus, you can use the Resource Governor to manage and limit application IO utilization.

MOZILLA TO DEVELOP OS BASED ON ANDROID

Mozilla, who are popular for their successful internet browser, are entering the mobile race, developing a new web-centric OS that will directly compete with Google, Apple and Microsoft.

           If  Mozilla rings any bells it's because they're the tech boffins who put together Internet Explorer, the browser that Windows defaults to. Mozilla took the leviathan computing company on with its Firefox browser, and today it stands as the second most popular browser worldwide.Now the company who was underdog to Microsoft looks to be playing the same role, but this time against internet tycoon Google.

             Mozilla Announced on the discussion forum that they have begun coding for phones and tablets. The Mobile operating system will draw on Android code, with Mozilla writing as much fresh code as possible. The hybrid-like operating system will be named Boot To Gecko. It is an unusual name for an OS, until you remember Gecko is the rendering engine employed by the Firefox browser that interprets web page coding and displays it in a screen-friendly format, a homage to its origins.

              Even though Android coding will form the operating system's foundations, Mozilla hope to add a much more open wrapper around it than Google currently do, making it more versatile as an operating system.Its shared foundations will also make Boot To Gecko compatible with the same phones as Android, competing as a direct alternative to Google.Often, when you select a link from an application native to the Android or iOS market, the operating system will have to open a new webpage in the browser. Boot To Gecko aims to limit this by making applications much more web-centric.If the venture proves successful, Mozilla will be waging war against industry giants, with Google, Apple and Microsoft dominating many facets of the technological world. 

                

                Mozilla have acknowledged the project is in infancy and have chosen to make the development public in hope it will attract talented enthusiast coders who will contribute to the Boot To Gecko's cause.According to their project team, all of the code development will be completed and shared with the public as soon as it is written.

Researcher Andreas Gal, who announced the development, admits the company has set a high target, but wants to do it "the way we think open source should be done.Gal says his ultimate goal is to break "the strong hold of proprietary technologies over the mobile device world," implicitly referring to the practices of Apple, Windows Phone and Google.