Month: September 2013

Military Tech

New camouflage coating uses squid protein to become invisible to infrared, night vision

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As reported on The Verge. By Nathan Olivarez-Giles Researchers at UC Irvine have created a new camouflage coating inspired by the pencil squid that is invisible to infrared cameras. The university developed the coating with military applications in mind — a tool to hide from enemies. Alon Gorodetsky, an assistant professor at Irvine who led the effort to project, says in a statement that since what his team has made is a film, it can easily…

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Apple

An Apple ID Is Now Required For Online Genius Bar Appointments

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As reported on TechCrunch. by MATTHEW PANZARINO Apple is now requiring that all users booking a Genius Bar appointment online sign in with an Apple ID. Previously, users could instead fill out a form with name, address and email in order to book an appointment. When you visit Apple’s online Genius Bar appointment page now, you’ll be prompted to enter your Apple ID and password in order to confirm it. The reasons for this are manifold but there…

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Social Networking Story

Zuckerberg’s Manifest Destiny: Connecting The 5 Billion People Without Internet

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As reported on TechCrunch. by JOSH CONSTINE Facebook didn’t stop when it hit 1 billion users. And it won’t stop even if it connects everyone with web access. ”To make the world more open and connected” really means the world — every human regardless of location or income. That’s why CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he’s “retooling the company to take on a lot of harder problems” — specifically spreading the Internet itself. Last month, Zuckerberg launched Internet.org with a 10-page whitepaper…

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Mobile

Samsung says its next-gen smartphones will have 64-bit processors too

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As reported on Engadget. By Steve Dent Samsung’s mobile business head JK Shin has said that the company’s next smartphones will feature a 64-bit CPU, according to the Korea Times. The remarks follows Apple’s launch of the iPhone 5s, the first handset with the 64-bit, billion transistor A7 processor and 64-bit OS 7. Saying that Samsung is aware of Apple’s ambitions in China, the exec added that a device with such a chip would come “not in the shortest time,” but…

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Business Culture

Hammerhead LED-based bike navigation keeps you on the righteous paths

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As reported on Engadget. By Timothy J. Seppala Developer Hammerhead Navigation thinks it has the solution to safer cycling: LEDs. It created a bike-mounted tool that does everything with its flashing diodes: turn-by-turn navigation, suggests crowd sourced-paths (via Strava and MapMyRide) and will even point you to the nearest Citibike exchange. The unit pairs with your iPhone or Android’s GPS to help find invisible bike trails through your city, and supposedly it can function without a data connection — perfect…

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Art Automotive Culture

BMW unveils the production i8, a hybrid supercar to challenge Porsche and Ferrari

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As reported on The Verge. By Nathan Olivarez-Giles BMW has pulled the wraps off of the highly anticipated production version of its i8 hybrid supercar, and we’re thrilled to report that many of the qualities that made last year’s concept so exciting, so aggressive, and so sleek are still in place. The strikingly cool gullwing doors remain, as do the radical spoilers built into rear window and rear fenders of the car. The blue highlights on BMW’s…

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Culture Games

Gigabyte’s tiny new gaming PC is smaller than an Xbox controller

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As reported on The Verge. By Sean Hollister It used to be difficult to find a computer that could play games and still fit underneath your TV. Now, devices like the Alienware X51, Falcon Northwest Tiki, and Digital Storm Bolt can handily fill that role. But what if you want a gaming PC that can fit in your hand? That’s where the Gigabyte Brix II comes in: it’s both cute and powerful. Earlier this year, the company introduced the Brix…

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Government Security

Court: NSA Violated Privacy Because No One Understood The Rules

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As reported on TechCrunch. by GREGORY FERENSTEIN The National Security Agency improperly identified over 15,000 telephone numbers as “suspicious” because there was no one at the agency who understood the rules, according to a scathing court order declassified by the Director of National Intelligence (on Tumblr!). “The court finds that the government’s failure to ensure that responsible officials adequately understood the NSA’s alert list process, and to accurately report its implementation to the court, has prevented…

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Google

Google teams up with edX to create the YouTube for online education

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As reported on Engadget. By Mariella Moon Google’s big list of open source projects just grew by one — the company has introduced a new online learning platform called MOOC.org. Despite the name, it’s not a website about cows — MOOC stands for “massive open online courses,” and it’s a product of the marriage between Mountain View and edX, an educational website by MIT and Harvard. However, while edX only features free courses from affiliated universities, MOOC.org will accept material submitted by…

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Apple iPhone SmartPhone

Apple’s iPhone 5c isn’t the low-cost phone you’ve been waiting for

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As reported on Engadget. By Darren Murph The iPhone 5s was expected. The iPhone 5c, on the other hand, was merely rumored. Now that Apple has taken the wraps off of two new iPhone products, it’s the newest range that strikes us as the most curious. For months, pundits have wondered if and when Apple would attack two obvious markets: the large-screen market — which Samsung is lapping up in supreme fashion at the moment — and developing markets. The…

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