Bad Handwriting?... This Writing Robot is an inspiration for You!
A robot which may not be holding the pen your way, but it's surely capable of writing every font form possible. With even pressure and with finesse. One of the best abilities of this robot is that it not only writes every possible font type present on your Word Application, it also write it with any pen you hand it to it. Meet, the AxiDraw V3. The drawing machine is worth looking at:
Can these automatic Writing machines defraud you by rendering your signature
A human handwriting differs from one another, and also from a machine, not only in form; but also in a way a human being exerts pressure while writing something. These pressure points while writing makes for certain imperfections in human writing. These imperfections makes you handwriting unique.
Hence as of now it's difficult for a robot to mimic your writing to defraud you. That apart, whenever there any substantial transaction taking place, there's always a human intervention. That's there will always be a human being to approve the final action. Hence don't worry.
Contact Less Cash Withdrawals ... No need to Swipe Your Card in a Reader | Barclays New Service
As if tapping together two Android phones to transfer photos and other shareable data was not enough, the NFC or Near Field Connectivity is seeing a big leap forward. If this experiment proves successful then many of us will be tapping our Android Phones on card readers and Cash Machines (Cash dispensers such as ATMs).
The news is that banking Giant Barclays has launched contact less cash machines.
The Barclays contact less cash machines lets you take money out using just your phone. As said the contactless technology uses NFC and allows the user to complete a transaction without using a Card. Yes, there's no need to put a card in a machine. All you've to do is tap your Android phone on the machine. Thus you can make a transaction without a Card.
How does this Contact less Cash withdrawal work?
The new service is being rolled out in the north of England, but will be available at 600 cash points across the country the next year.
If we want to understand the technology in simple then we can see it like this: In Barclays Contact less Cash withdrawal or contact less banking transactions (if we want to include other banking transactions as well), the user simple has to tap his/her android phone on the machine, instead of swiping or inserting a card in the machine.
If the experiment proves successful then we will be seeing such tapping to pay for transactions at POSs as well.
To summarize, right now you need especially designated vending machines and POSs readers to make use of this new service.
Is This Technology Safer than the existing swipe your card in the machine?
In one way we can say so. As the Bank has put one more authentication wall in the banking transaction process. Now you will need your phone and your Card PIN. If the biggest card hacks in recent times are being done by reading data of your card through skimming devices attached to the machines or readers, then the new service which saves you from physically inserting your card into the machine surely makes more sense. As the fraudsters with the present levels of tech will not be able to read the card data, or physically steal the card.
But still it's too early to talk about safety because in the new service we are still sharing some data with the reader in such machines.
Will the new tech make the banking transactions faster? ... Cannot say for sure. But with faster connectivity, the new service will be faster than the existing one, as it is brining an already authenticated mobile phone & number into the picture. It also doesn't want you to take extra effort to take out your card from your wallet and swipe it. Means a user doesn't need to authenticate his mobile device, the associated number, and card every time he makes a transaction.
The service is still in experimental phases, hence the withdrawal facility is functional during Bank working hours only. That too from Barclays ATMs located inside branches.
How People will be using Barclays new service:
With a contact less card - Tap your card on the machine’s reader; enter card PIN on machine and follow the on-screen instructions to complete cash withdrawal.
With an Android smartphone – Tap your phone on the machine’s reader; and after that follow the instructions on your phone to complete cash withdrawal.
With Barclays Mobile Banking - Open Barclays Mobile Banking and select ‘Contactless Cash’; Select withdrawal amount, follow instructions, enter card PIN; Tap Android phone on machine’s contact less reader within 30 seconds to complete cash withdrawal.
Phone or Mobile Device with SIM Card Compatibility
At present You need an Android smartphone with NFC capabilities.
In future Barclays plans to bring the new service for iPhone users as well. For that you will have to wait for 2017.
Youngsters using their Laptop backpack to carry books, clothes etc. is a common sight. But what about a Car in a laptop backpack?
A young engineer at Cocoa Motors in japan has created Walk Car - A Car not bigger than a laptop. But three or four times heavier. The walk Car which the engineer claims is an insight into futuristic transport weight 4-6 kilograms, can be carried in a laptop backpack, can transport up to 120 kilograms and is sufficiently powered to push a wheelchair.
A Gadget to save you from paying Car parking Fines
One thing about technology is fascinating. One technology can be put to various products based on the need and business sense. Take for instance, Bluetooth, the low energy technology is being used from effective fitness bands to some tool to find misplaced or lost car keys.
Now a new toss in and forget gadget, the size of a coin, called AwareCar is trying increase your awareness about your car and the self awareness of the car as well. Te gadget uses customized Bluetooth low energy beacons for cars, by using micro location events.
This simply means the gadgets with the help of the app knows exactly where you and your phone are located in relation to your vehicle. It depends how to plan to use it.
The makers are currently trying to collect funds to make the gadget commercially.
e-SIM in Apple, Samsung Devices for Easier Carrier Switching
According to reports, Apple and Samsung are working on a new SIM called e-SIM standard that would make it easier for consumers to switch between mobile carriers. And Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) will very shorty announce an agreement for implementing the new SIM standard, known as the embedded SIM or e-SIM.
How e-SIM will be implemented?
The new e-SIM would ship inside of Apple and Samsung smartphones and allow consumers to switch mobile carriers without having to activate a new SIM card. Tow switch between carriers, the device owner has to simply go to settings and make switch over.
The e-SIM will also allow Apple and Samsung to make thinner devices as SIM card tray components would no longer be required.
The e-SIM has approval of majority of operators (includes AT&T, Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Etisalat, Hutchison Whampoa and Telefónica.).
The e-SIM Apple and Samsung devices are expected to to arrive by 2016.
If things go as planned then the consumers will not have to buy a new SIM every time they have to switch the operator.
5 Electric Cars World is Talking About, includes Apple Titan
Apple is reportedly working on an electric car, aka iCar.
What is restricting Electric Car adoption? Price, Distance range from a single Charge and of course choice. But still, Electric Cars is the future of the cars. At least this is what both manufacturers (car manufacturers and Tech companies) and people think.
Below are 5 Electric Cars World is Talking About:
Apple iCar codenamed Titan : According to WSJ, Apple is serious about developing the next Gen electric vehicle. It wants to jump the curve this time as well, that's why it has brought top designers with automobile manufacturing experience under its hood. Get ready to see the biten Apple on front of car, which will eb more like a minivan.
Chevrolet Bolt: Announced recently, the electric car will hav a range of 200-mile (that;s distance covered from a single charge). The car will have a price tag of $37500 plus 20 percent tax. The commercial manufacture of the car will start from 2017.
Tesla Model 3: This is from a Company situated in Silicon Valley. This company started its journey from an electric automobile itself. The range is the same as GM's Bolt; but it's much cheaper. Under 30000 dollars including taxes.
Nissan Leaf: Has already sold close to 150,000 cars.
In a time when medical fraternity sees significant risks of oral contraceptives, an implantable birth control microchip is being developed. The implantable chip will hit the U.S. market by 2018. And there are chances that it will, unless some ethical issue arises, as the project is being funded by Billionaire and Microsoft Founder Bill Gates. Bill Gates is often seen as a population control enthusiast, who in the past has provided money to such out of the box (sometimes called evil) ideas such as --genetically engineered vaccinating mosquitoes or flying syringes, sperm killing viruses and so on.
The experts and thinkers are already seeing profound implications of this new birth control microchip on human reproduction. The new microchip implant reportedly lasts up to 16 years, and can be controlled via wireless remote device. It will keep giving the body the required birth control hormone as and when required for 16 years or till a woman remains fertile. According to the researchers in the development, each microchip comes with “secure encryption”.
The very idea of such consented, involuntary birth control is quite popular among World's top rich and top influencers. But since most of the times their philanthropy targets are poor or developing nations, they are also their petri dishes.
What is the biggest challenge for NASA's 2018 Moon mission? A rover robot which can scale terrain on Moon and investigate the Moon surface effectively. Keeping this challenge in mind, NASA has created a couple of Moon rover robots , the latest of them is KRex robot. KRex an improved and bigger moon rover than its predecessor is remotely controlled , has four wheels which can be controlled individually. The KRex will be improved in coming years and aims for the moon in 2018.
5G Technology about 1000 times faster than 4G LTE !
Tech advanced country, South Korea is Developing 5G Network, which is 1000 Times Faster Than 4G. Buffering will be Thing of Past.
South Korea may be called the world's most advanced country in tech. That's why it's not surprising if some unbelievable claim emanates from the country. The country's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) the week ago announced that it would invest 1.6 trillion won ($1.5 billion) to develop 5G technology which will be 1,000 times faster than 4G LTE.
How Fast is South Korea's 5G?
Well, that will enable the user download an 800 MB movie in Just One Second.
When MEST 5G will be available to inhabitants of South Korea?
MEST plans to roll out a trial 5G service by 2017. The commercial service will be available by 2020.
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The paper thin flexible wireless keyboard is less than 0.5 mm thick and can turn any area into a touch surface.
Smartphones are getting Thinner, so why not Keyboards. And for keyboards the goal has always been to become paper thin, easy to be folded or rolled. The world’s thinnest keyboard, which is about the same thickness as a single sheet of paper, has been developed by a company called CSR.
The paper thin flexible wireless keyboard is less than 0.5 mm thick and can turn any area into a touch surface. The keyboard is based on a combination of CSR’s low-power wireless technology and the latest in printable, flexible electronics and touch screen sensing.
The makers of the paper thin keyboard are hopeful that the Lightweight and flexible keyboard can easily be integrated into a protective cover for a tablet or used to create large touch zones on a desktop. One area which is often an area of concern for such prototypes is the touch latency (the time duration between the touch input and the resulting output). CSR has managed to minimized TL to less than 12mS, ensuring near instant visual feedback.Check out the video below:
Foxconn busy making New-Generation Automated Robots
Foxconn busy making New-Generation Automated Robots. Bottlenecks in key technologies will be removed, once humans are removed from Assembly lines.
Foxconn, the world's leading manufacturer of computer components and systems (Manufacturer for Tech Giant Apple), ventured out on its own a couple of months ago. Now the Chinese manufacturer is busy contemplating the path it has to tread in coming years. One Area it has already chosen for itself are the New-Generation Automated Robots. Interestingly, Foxconn is developing new-generation robots for the purpose of automation on its product lines. The development is seen by many as Foxconn breaking through the bottleneck in key technologies. Foxconn's goal of building a million automation robots is going to be achieved shortly, around October this year (yes, next month).
Foxconn will not exit the manufacturing industry in spite of knowing the fact that many IT players have started giving up their manufacturing businesses. Since manufacturing will eventually turn heavily dependent on automation and robots, Foxconn in the future, will place its focus on R&D and technologies as well as e-commerce.
Foxconn has also been investing in nanometer technologies and through long-term R&D and the acquisition of related patents, Foxconn to become the leader of the industry in 3-5 years.
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Epson Moverio 3D Glasses: Wearable Glasses like Google Glasses
Epson Moverio & APX Labs have created wearable 3D Glasses. The glasses work like this: Each Glass of the Moverio glasses has a small square display, which is in the sight field of the wearer. The wearer fixes a spot on to any real world boject in his sight field; and he sees information about it on the displays. The simple tilt of head, up-down and sideways, given more information, which means drop down menus, videos, status update, about the focussed on object. Check the Epson Moverio 3D Glasses in action last year in the video below:
The Epson Moverio glasses demo at the Google I/O Conference, currently underway. Here Epson Moverio 3D Glasses are controlling the YouTube:
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The PaperPhone – A bendable phone thinner than a credit card
Paper Thin , Paper flexible phone is believed to be the next logical evolution of the current smart phones. But is this still a wishful thinking, OR will we be able to buy a paper thin- flexible phone in the next five years.
Courtesy the efforts of a bunch of Canadian researchers Paper smart phone can indeed become a reality in next couple of years.
A group of Canadian researchers have invented a smartphone prototype which is paper-thin, flexible and has a low-powered e-ink touchscreen display (Amazon’s Kindle uses an e-Ink technology). The smartphone can be rolled up to fit into your wallet.
The researchers plan to officially unveil the PaperPhone at the Association of Computing Machinery's CHI 2011 in Vancouver, Canada.
According to researchers, the PaperPhone prototype gives the world a glimpse of what the smartphones will look like within next five years. The PaperPhone, looks, feels and operates like a small sheet of interactive paper. A user interacts with it by bending it into a cell phone, flipping the corner to turn pages, or writing on it with a pen. To take inputs, the phone uses bending instead of push buttons. A user has to bend the phone to navigate; bend the phone’s both sides to open up an application; and twist the top right corner, to go to the next page.
Developed to perform absolutely everything a normal smartphone can do. PaperPhone can store e-books, play music, make phone calls, etc. The futuristic phone is as thin as a credit card and is much more flexible than one. It has a 9.5 cm diagonal screen and is one-sixth the weight of Apple's iPhone4. It’s much robust than Apple’s iPhone4 as well. According to the lead researcher, the PaperPhone can even work normally after being hit with a hammer.
In addition, the prototype is designed to use less electricity to charge itself.
But, the prototype has still some scope for improvements, which is quite expected. Like, the flexible board circuit was used for the bendable input and power only, the processor and other rigid electronics had to be attached via an external handle to the phone. Pricing can be another issue. The prototype alone costs about $7000-$10000 to produce.
But the researchers are quite optimistic about-- the bendable, wallet fitting smartphone – saying that price won't be an issue in the next 10 years or so since the product will eventually go mainstream.
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According to Research Firm Forrester, Apple's iPad will lead Android in a 2011 tablet market. Not even 2011, but 2012 will also see Apple iPad number 1 in Tablet market.
Revising its previous conservative estimates, Forrester now expects the 2011 tablet market to be 2.5 times of what it was in 2010. Thus in 2011 tablet market will reach 24.1 million sales; more than double the 10.3 million she estimates were sold through 2010.
In its June 2010 forecast, just two months of iPad launch, Forrester had predicted 3.5 million tablets would sell. It estimated 8.4 million tablet sales estimate for 2011.
Notably, some are calling these revised estimates still quite conservative. One among them, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says that 10.3 million tablet sales for 2010 stand nowhere near the actual sales. He estimated iPad sales of 14.5 million for 2010, at least 1 million units of the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the tally reaches 15.5 million units.
Although, Both Forrester Researcher and Munster agree on one thing—the market share Apple iPad and Android will have in 2011. Both expect the iPad to command a 53 percent market share through 2011, with Google's Android platform grabbing 32.5 percent.
Number of tablet users in US by 2015:
According to Forrester, by 2015, 82 million U.S. consumers will be using a tablet, and not all of them will be iPads.
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Giving a glimpse of the next Five years (2011-2015) in IBM Style, here is a video which shares with the world, what IBM thinks the future will look like. In all probability, IBM may be working on the same lines. Here are the IBM's Five areas which will see innovations in the next five years:
1) You'll meet with your friends in 3-D(Hologram with Speaker, phone, tablet, cellphone)
2) Batteries will breathe air to power our devices (people using mobile devices)
3) Computers will help energize your city (Data center, servers, chip animation, city scenes)
4) Your commute will be personalized (Traffic shots, rail)
5) You won't need to be a scientist to save the planet (water, data collection screens)
it is safe to bet on the above five for the next five years, as efforts in each are already visible -- Apple is working on realistic 3D hologram imagery, work is on extending battery lives and making them charge fast, with focus on all battery aspects, a Silicon Valley start-up has already landed a contract to conserve electricity for Dubai Electricity Authority; Pod taxis are always under testing; and an iPhone app to crowd-source data on water quality in US is already out.
It takes imagination only to guess what can be achieved in next Five years.
Mike McCue, Chief Executive Officer of Flipboard Inc., has shared Flipboard's business strategy and growth outlook. Palo Alto, California-based Flipboard offers an application to Apple Inc.'s iPad that asks users to enter their Facebook Inc. or Twitter Inc. account information and favorite publications. It then pulls in all the relevant links to news articles, blog items and photographs through these feeds and displays the content in a magazine-style format.
Talking to Bloomberg, McCue said that Flipboard may develop Magazine Style Ads.
Due to embedding restrictions, you have to visit YouTube to watch the said video. You can Find it Here.
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Percentage of workers using social media as primary means for business communications by 2014
We all are witnessing, how hard it has become to define a Gmail, a Facebook, a Blogger, a Twitter etc. these days. The rigid distinction between these has become so blurred that if one calls Facebook a social network; there are high chances that some one will question, why it can't be called a micro-blogging service, like twitter. In short, with every entity endorsing the specialty of its rivals; and starting to look the same; it's hard to define anyone in traditional strict sense.
Thinking on the same line, when PC World asked industry analysts at Gartner to weigh in on the future of email. This was the reply of Monica Basso, research vice president at Gartner,
“The rigid distinction between email and social networks will erode,” “Email will take on many social attributes, such as contract brokering, while social networks will develop richer email capabilities.”
According to Gartner, 20 percent of workers will turn to social media as the primary means for business communications by 2014.
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Table Connect to turn your table into a Giant iPhone Like touchscreen
One notable developement amidst all the new tablet launches is that they invariably shifted the debate more towards portability -- Is 5 inch display too big for a tablet to make it eligible for a smartphone or is 7 inch tablet size too small for it becoming a viable option for a notebook?-- And in all the debate about this, majority of us seemed to have missed the "Bigger the better" image for touch-screens. In addition, the debate about vertical and horizontal alignment of a touchscreen also got missed somewhere.
But some people are really thinking, and breaking the limits in this iPhone can’t get any better era. Check out this Table Connect—a fifty-eight inch iPhone desk that connects up an Apple device with a simple cord. When connected, the tabletop turns into a giant touchscreen that enables you to control everything just like one would on the phone.
This Table can be very easily turned into a brainstorming table for Businesses(This is my commercial idea for the table, what is yours?)
AU Optronics, a market leading LCD panel maker, will unveil their glass-free 3D panels on November 10th at the upcoming FPD International 2010 in Japan. The panels are deadzone-free. The panels can play both 3D and 2D content concurrently. The 10.1 inch panel runs at WXVGA resolution, while the 15.6 inch panel is Full HD capable with 1920×1080 resolution.
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4 Social start-ups Silicon Valley Bigwigs are following closely
Some hours ago, at Facebook’s headquarters at Silicon Valley, venture capital fund Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers have launched a $250 million sFund.
This fund, is being led by Bing Gordon, the former chief creative officer at Electronic Arts. Ten U.S. partners and four ones based in China will be helping source and vet deals for the fund. The impetus for the fund came one year ago by looking at the success of Zynga.
The fund will focus on social products and applications (that’s startups playing on social networking arena). Kleiner’s earlier $200 million iFund, focused on companies on the iPad and iPhone.
In addition to the fund contributors, other companies involved include Amazon and Zynga, as well as boutique investment bank Allen & Company and telecommunications giant Comcast. They will be providing services based on their field of expertise.
The big names associated with the fund launch and the event include Kleiner’s partner John Doerr, Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos, Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg, Zynga chief executive Mark Pincus and Bing Gordon.
Below are the 5 start-ups in the social arena (in no particular order) that will be followed closely by some of the big names (by their own admission and their investment) during the next one year:
1)CafeBots, founded by a Stanford University computer science professor Yoav Shoham.
2) Mike McCue’s Flipboard, a social magazine for the iPad
, a market leading LCD panel maker, will unveil their glass-free 3D panels on November 10th at the upcoming FPD International 2010 in Japan. The panels are deadzone-free. The panels can play both 3D and 2D content concurrently. The 10.1 inch panel runs at WXVGA resolution, while the 15.6 inch panel is Full HD capable with 1920×1080 resolution.
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