As reported on TechCrunch. by Danny Crichton icy All But Bans The Intelligence Community From Speaking To The Press Let’s get outside of the San Francisco bubble for a little while (trust me, there is oxygen here). I realize in a world saturated with protesters who have all the sophistication and menace of a shipful of Pakleds, it may seem like a protest in front of Kevin Rose’s home is the Biggest News in the Universe. It may seem…
As reported on TechCrunch. by Peter Barnum, Brad Neuman An ambitious blend of fact and fiction, “Transcendence” is Hollywood’s latest dystopian-edged take on the implications of artificial intelligence. The movie presents the tale of the wildly brilliant researcher, Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp), and his team as they perform a radical experiment in uploading a human mind to a computer. It’s set in the near future and, as otherworldly as the plot may seem, director Wally Pfister and writer Jack…
As reported on Engadget. BY JON FINGAS Forget carrying a separate hotspot router to have a local network wherever you go — what if you were the hotspot? Fashion designer Borre Akkersdijk has come very, very close to making that vision a reality with his experimental BB.Suit. The goofy-looking cotton onesie is knitted using a special 3D technique that leaves space for WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and NFC connections, turning the owner into an access point. Akkersdijk showed off the potential of…
As reported on Engadget. BY MAT SMITH In the technological equivalent of Band Aid, minus the charitable fundraising, Korea’s SK Telecom has celebrated 30 years in the carrier business, by composing its current jingle from yesteryear’s cellular hits. Stars include several car-phones from the eighties, the MotorolaStarTAC and more recent smartphones like the, er, LG Optimus Z. Well, we were long overdue another K-Pop ear-worm.
As reported on TechCrunch. by John Biggs In an unsurprising move, ATM operators and other financial organizations are beginning to look to Linux as a replacement for their outdated Windows XP installations. That these organizations are deciding to move from XP only now is a testament to the staying power of the OS and a certain conservatism in financial circles. “Windows XP currently powers nearly 95% of ATMs around the world,” wroteComputerWorld reporter Jaikumar Vijayan. The operating system,…
As reported on TechCrunch. by Colleen Taylor Nowadays, many people browse the web at the same time that they’re watching TV — the phenomenon is called the “second screen.” But a new gadget called InAIR from a startup called SeeSpace wants to bring our attention back to just one screen by putting the best of the laptop, the smart phone, and the TV all together in one place.InAIR, which is set to cost $99, works by plugging directly…
As reported on Engadget. BY MARIELLA MOON If you think cancer removal surgery is but a one-time procedure, you’d be wrong. Doctors don’t always cut out all affected tissues in one go, but a new pair of high-tech eyewear could help make that happen. The device, developed by a Washington University research team led by Samuel Achilefu, can make cancer cells perfectly visible to surgeons as they operate. It’s loaded with custom software that makes cancerous cells glow…
As reported on TechCrunch. by Romain Dillet This is the story of a city that keeps reinventing itself. Over the past three weeks, I’ve been walking around Paris to meet with the brightest minds of a tech ecosystem in the making. My experience is as personal as it is relevant about what makes a startup ecosystem work, and why Europe is the next frontier. When I first decided that I wanted to move to…
As reported on Engadget. BY JON FINGAS It’s tough to build solar cells that capture both heat and light — most of these multi-talented devices can’t trap more than one percent of the energy they receive. However, MIT has just blown past that limitation with a prototype chip that absorbs warmth through an outer layer of carbon nanotubes. The tubing heats up photonic crystals so much that they glow with an intense light, giving an attached solar cell more energy than…
As reported on Engadget. BY MARIELLA MOON Not all soldiers are crack shots, but the U.S. military is reportedly hoping to make that happen — with a little help from “smart” rifles, that is. According to a startup called TrackingPoint, the military bought six of its precision-guided firearms that can cost between $10,000 to $27,000 each. These pricey rifles come equipped with a Linux computer in the scope and sensors that automatically determine environmental factors such as the…