Surprisingly efficient snail brains could help make robots smarter
How snails think about eating could inform future robot decision-making designs. University of Sussex researchers have discovered that the creatures use just two brain cells for complex decisions: one cell told the snail if it was hungry, while another told it if food was near. Scientists attached electrodes to the snails’ brains to measure activity — which hopefully looked adorable. The takeaway is that it could help design efficient robot brains using the least possible number of components yet still capable of performing complex tasks. Lead researcher Professor George Kemenes added that it: “also shows how this system helps to manage how much energy they use once they have made a decision.”
Searching for (and consuming food) is a surprisingly complex goal-directed behavior, essential for survival. It appears snails are particularly efficient at processing these decisions. According to Kemenes, the study was also able to show “how this system helps to manage how much energy they use once they have made a decision.” Then again, snails have never had to decide whether to get Animal Style fries or not.
Via: Science Daily
Source: University of Sussex
Beacons help pregnant women get seats on Korean trains
It’s a perennial problem; do you give up the seat to the fifty-something year-old that just walked on the train, or will they be offended at the suggestion? Is that person pregnant and in need of respite, or just overweight? Chances are if you’re having those internal discussions you could just quietly vacate your spot without a word, but a project in South Korea uses Bluetooth to make it more obvious when someone in need requires a seat.
The pilot, called “Pink Light,” focuses on pregnant women, and is a collaboration between Busan City and Daehong, a Korean PR company. It consists of two parts: a small beacon that women carry around, and light-up signs installed on trains. Women can pick up beacons at certain locations around the city, and they last six months before their batteries need replacing.
Once a woman has a beacon, she only needs to carry it around, and the tech will do the rest. When she’s standing near to a seat, the pink light illuminates, letting people know that someone who needs a seat more than them is on board. Once the system detects the woman is seated, the light switches off. As well as clearing up any confusion as to whether a person is pregnant, the system is also helpful at peak hours, where those seated might not even be able to see someone that’s just entered a train.
Only a single train line was covered by the pilot, but Busan now wants to expand Pink Light to cover all of its metro and bus systems. While this campaign is just for pregnant women, the underlying technology would obviously be applied to any group — it’s easy to see this working well with the elderly or otherwise frail, on an opt-in basis.
Via: BBC
Source: Pink Light (KR), Busan City
India May Exempt Apple From Sourcing Requirement For ‘Two to Three Years’
The Indian government is prepared to allow Apple to open its first three planned retail outlets in the country without any sourcing requirement for their first few years of business, reports Times of India.
As a rule, 30 percent of goods sold by foreign companies must be manufactured or produced in the country, a requirement Apple does not meet as its products are largely made in China.
That obstacle initially appeared to have been removed for Apple last year, when India exempted retailers selling state-of-the-art goods from the rule, prompting the company to file a new application with the Indian government.
However, a recommendation from the country’s Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) to allow Apple to move ahead with single-brand retail outlets was shot down by the ministry of finance, which decided Apple’s products do not fall into the cutting-edge technology category.
Now, the DIPP and the finance ministry appear to be open to the idea of allowing Apple to set up shop in the country without immediately complying with the 30 percent rule. This would allow the company to look at the option of manufacturing in India and begin sourcing components locally as volume increases.
Apple has reportedly already informed the government that it has started buying chargers from the country, which are also being exported.
“It is only fair to insist on some local production and two-three years is a reasonable period. Five years may be too long,” said the Times of India source, who did not wish to be identified.
The developments follow Apple CEO Tim Cook’s recent weeklong visit to India, where he met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other local business leaders, actors, politicians, and developers.
During the visit, Apple announced the launch of a Maps development center in Hyderabad and an iOS app and design accelerator in Bangalore. Last quarter, Apple saw its revenue from India grow 56 percent, surpassing $1 billion.
Tag: India
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Amazon Fire HD 10: The perfect all metal tablet for media consumption at the right price (review)
Tablets have been hit or miss with consumers since they became popular with the iPad. Sales of tablets hit their peak in 2014, and were down 10% last year with total shipments at 206.8 million.
Most of us were given the expectation that tablets would be laptop replacements, but that idea flamed out over the past few years. Now tablets are separating themselves into two market segments: those that really do mimic laptops, and those that are purely made for media consumption.
The market for tablets that mimic laptops are mostly made up of Microsoft’s Surface Pro line and Surface Book. Those devices fall technically into the tablet category because they don’t have a dedicated physical keyboard and can be used as a touch screen device only. The internal hardware match those of the best laptops, and so do the high prices at over $1000. I like to think of these so called tablets as pro tablets as they are made for professionals and businesses.
The pro tablets aren’t what we think of when we think of the tablet market though. We tend to think of Apple iPads, Nexus and Samsung tablets that cost well under $1000 which are designed for home use. Most of us use our tablets for sending emails, watching videos, browsing the web, and reading books. The tablets we are used to are more similar to smartphones than computers, they’re just quite a bit larger.
I’ve been using the updated all metal Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet and think it is a great option for those users who just want to consume media.
Kindle Fire HD 10 design
Amazon entered the tablet market a few years ago, and has been paving its own path for what it thinks tablets should be. Amazon is now on its fifth generation tablet with the Fire HD 10, and hit the nail on the head with it.
With the third generation Fire Tablet, Amazon tried to compete with Apple and Samsung on hardware by jamming in the best display and processor it could. That led to a high priced Fire tablet that wasn’t worth the money considering you could get full blown Android tablets for the same price. Amazon then toned down the hardware, and focused more on the media experience with its tablets, and released the plastic HD 10 last year. By cutting back on hardware specs, Amazon made its tablet line much more affordable.
Rather than completely redesigning its tablet, like almost all other manufacturers do every year, besides Apple, Amazon simply kept the guts the same and encased it in a gorgeous all metal shell. By forgoing a complete redesign, Amazon was able to give us a premium build while keeping the price extremely affordable for most consumers.
Amazon followed Apple’s lead and refined the current model rather than rebuilding it from the ground up. Even though I am a fan of Google and Android, I understand that redesigning each tablet and smartphone every year is a huge undertaking. That’s why Apple is smart to stick with a hardware design for two years, and instead of reinventing the wheel, they just make it better in the second year.
Speaker port
If you have used last year’s Fire HD 10, the all metal one is much the same except for the exterior. It’s slightly thinner, and feels extremely solid. Last year’s glossy plastic design was tired and almost childlike. Replacing the glossy plastic with all metal is a solid decision that make the HD 10 feel premium.
- 10.1″ HD display (149ppi 1280 x 800)
- Quad core processor at 1.5GHz
- 16, 32, or 64GB Memory options expandable via microSD up to 128GB
- Colors – Black, White, or Silver Aluminum
- 5MP rear camera
- 10.3″ x 6.3″ x 0.3″ (262 x 159 x 7.7 mm)
- Fire OS
The Fire HD 10 still has a microUSB port for charging and transferring data, with dual speakers that sit on the long side of the tablet. On the short side of the tablet is where you will find the power button, volume rocker, microUSB port and headphone jack. The build is extremely clean and minimal and appears to built to last.
Power button and microUSB port
Usage
If I were to judge the Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet based on hardware specs alone it would automatically fall into the “budget” category of tablets. Right now it is priced at $179.99 for a limited time, which is technically a budget tablet of this size.
Google’s similarly sized Pixel C starts at $499.99, and it also has an all metal build. The Pixel C however comes with much better hardware internally and has a much higher resolution display.
The Pixel C is supposed to be Google’s “productivity” tablet, but it was released with Android instead of Chrome, making it just like any other tablet you can get. So I would place the Pixel C in the consumer tablet category versus the pro category that the Microsoft tablets fall into. Being a consumer tablet, my main uses for the Pixel C are email, web browsing, movies, tv shows, books and games. It’s another tablet designed for media consumption, yet it costs over double what the Fire HD 10 costs.
Amazon realized that if it wanted to compete against Android, with its own Fire OS software and Amazon Underground App store, it would need to do so at a much cheaper price point.
With a display with only 149ppi, I typically would turn my snobby nose up at it, but when I stop trying to look for pixels, I actually enjoy the large display. The color is very accurate, not overly saturated or tinted, and can be viewed from any angle. Watching movies and TV shows is no different than when I watch it on my iPad Pro. Yes the iPad Pro is much clearer with 264ppi, but when you’re not looking for pixels, they pretty much look the same to my eye.
The Fire HD 10 tablet excels when you’re reading books. Its display ratio is 16:10, which is great for watching movies, but even better for reading books. Instead of being more square like the Pixel C, the HD 10 is longer and skinnier which feels more like a book.
Pixel C on the left, Fire HD 10 right.
I enjoy reading books on the Fire HD 10, more than any other tablet I have used before.
Fire OS is designed to give you Amazon’s content and it does it extremely well.
When you swipe off the home screen to the right, your media is broken down into different categories: Books, Videos, Games, Shop, etc. This interface is perfect if you’re mainly using the tablet for media.
Amazon also gives you more free content if you subscribe to Amazon Prime which costs $99 per year. It gives you free two-day shipping, and in some cities, even free same day shipping. In addition to the improved shipping speeds, Amazon Prime also gives you access to Amazon Video, Amazon Music, and Amazon Kindle which allows you to borrow one book free every month. Amazon Prime members can even a subscription to the Washington Post for six months, free of charge.
Performance wise, the Fire HD 10 will never win any benchmark tests. There is an occasional lag when switching between apps, but when you’re consuming mostly media, you’re probably going to stay within an app for an extended period of time. The lag is noticeable, but it isn’t so noticeable that it becomes annoying. In the case of performance, you get what you pay for, which is a budget tablet.
One area that Amazon tablets never get enough credit for is audio. Amazon employs dual stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos which makes videos and music sound fantastic. Dolby has been an industry leader in audio for decades, and it makes the Fire HD 10 sound like you’re in a mini movie theater whether you use the built-in speakers or headphones.
Amazon advertises battery life on the HD 10 at eight hours. After several rounds of testing of videos on loop, with internet browsing mixed in, I averaged 7.8 hours. 7.8 hours isn’t class leading, but it is very good in the large tablet category.
Don’t expect to play graphic intense games like racers on the Fire HD 10 as performance suffers. But if you’re the type who likes to play Candy Crush or Words with Friends, the Fire HD 10 will do you just fine.
Conclusion
The spotlight on tablets currently goes to the big names like the iPad Pro, Pixel C and Microsoft Surface where those tablets are supposed to be productivity powerhouses. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Amazon Fire HD 10 which is designed to be a media consumption device. It’s also on the other end of the spectrum when it comes to price – you can buy seven Fire HD 10 tablets for the cost of the base model Microsoft Surface Book.
If you’re in the market for a large screen tablet that you can enjoy movies on, shop on Amazon, browse the web, and enjoy books the Fire HD 10 might be the right tablet for you as long as you’re not looking to replace your laptop with it. It’s a great tablet to take advantage of all of the free content that your Amazon Prime membership offers.
At $179.99 I can easily recommend the Amazon Fire HD 10. You can pick up the all metal Fire HD 10 at Amazon.
Living circuits can handle complex computing
Gene-based circuits are about to get decidedly more sophisticated. MIT scientists have developed a method for integrating both analog and digital computing into those circuits, turning living cells into complex computers. The centerpiece is a threshold sensor whose gene expression flips DNA, converting analog chemical data into binary output — basically, complex data can trigger simple responses that match the language of regular computers.
The practical applications are huge. Along with general-purpose computing, you could have advanced sensors that trigger different kinds of chemical production depending on levels for other chemicals. You could produce insulin when there’s too much glucose, for instance, or deliver different kinds of cancer therapy. And this isn’t just talk. Clinical trials for a simple gene circuit (which will treat gut diseases) are starting within a year, so you could see these organic machines in action before too long.
Via: UPI
Source: MIT News, Nature
Airbus drone is made almost entirely from 3D-printed parts
Airbus isn’t content with 3D printing motorcycles — it’s crafting aircraft, too. The aviation giant used the recent Berlin Air Show to introduce Thor, a drone built almost exclusively from 3D-printed parts. Everything that isn’t electrical is built from polyamide, whether it’s the propellers or the landing gear. The result is a robotic aircraft that’s both quick to make (there are no tools involved) and extremely light — the entire 13-foot-long vehicle weighs a modest 46 pounds.
It exists largely thanks to ever-larger 3D printers. Airbus can craft pieces up to 15 inches long, and that greatly simplifies the construction of a given part. It tells the AFP that a 270-part engine injection assembly only requires three parts with the newer manufacturing technique.
Thor is a technology demonstrator rather than a practical product, but it’s a good sign of where Airbus plans to go in the future. A move to 3D printing for entire aircraft could help the environment by reducing fuel costs and eliminating the waste that often comes with conventional manufacturing. It should lower overall manufacturing costs, too, and not just for aircraft. Airbus is already expected to dramatically lower the cost of the 2020-era Ariane 6 rocket through a heavy reliance on 3D-printed components, and that’s only likely to get better when the company can craft complete, full-size vehicles using its cutting-edge method.
Via: AFP (Phys.org)
Source: Airbus
Home networking explained, part 1: Here’s the URL for you – CNET
Editors’ note: This story was originally published on December 9, 2014, and has been updated with additional information.
Do you know that Wi-Fi and Internet are two different things? That’s true, Wi-Fi is just a wireless method for devices in a local network to connect to one another using a router and share a single Internet connection, if there’s one. Then what is a local network, you ask? And what’s a router for Pete’s sake?
Well, if you’re having a hard time with these basic terms, you’re reading the right post. Here I will (try to) explain them all so that you can have a better understanding of your home network and hopefully a better control of your online life. There’s a lot to explain so this is just the first post of an evolving series.
Advanced and experienced users likely won’t need this, but for the rest, I’d recommend reading the whole thing. So take your time, but in case you want to jump to a quick answer, feel free to search for what you want to know and chances are you will find it within this post.
1. Wired networking
A wired local network is basically a group of devices connected to one another using network cables, more often than not with the help of a router, which brings us to the very first thing you should know about your network.
Router: This is the central device of a home network into which you can plug one end of a network cable. The other end of the cable goes into a networking device that has a network port. If you want to add more network devices to a router, you’ll need more cables and more ports on the router. These ports, both on the router and on the end devices, are called Local Area Network (LAN) ports. They are also known as RJ45 ports. The moment you plug a device into a router, you have yourself a wired network. Networking devices that come with an RJ45 network port are called Ethernet-ready devices. More on this below.
Note: Technically, you can skip the router and connect two computers directly together using one network cable to form a network of two. However, this requires manually configuring the IP addresses, or using a special crossover cable, for the connection to work. You don’t really want to do that.
The back of a typical router; the WAN (Internet) port is clearly distinguished from the LANs.
Dong Ngo/CNET
LAN ports: A home router usually has four LAN ports, meaning that, straight out of the box, it can host a network of up to four wired networking devices. If you want to have a larger network, you will need to resort to a switch (or a hub), which adds more LAN ports to the router. Generally a home router can connect up to about 250 networking devices, and the majority of homes and even small businesses don’t need more than that.
There are currently two main speed standards for LAN ports: Ethernet (also called Fast Ethernet,) which caps at 100Mbps (or about 13MBps), and Gigabit Ethernet, which caps at 1Gbps (or about 150MBps). In other words, it takes about a minute to transfer a CD’s worth of data (around 700MB or about 250 digital songs) over an Ethernet connection. With Gigabit Ethernet, the same job takes just about five seconds. In real life, the average speed of an Ethernet connection is about 8MBps, and of a Gigabit Ethernet connection is somewhere between 45 and 100MBps. The actual speed of a network connection depends on many factors, such as the end devices being used, the quality of the cable and the amount of traffic.
Home networking explained
- Part 2: Optimizing your Wi-Fi network
- Part 3: Taking control of your wires
- Part 4: Wi-Fi vs. Internet
- Part 5: Home router setup
- Part 6: Securing your network
- Part 7: Powerline explained
- Part 8: Cable modem shopping tips
- Part 9: How to access your home computer remotely
Samsung Gear Fit 2 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Samsung’s been serious about fitness for a few years now, but now the company has its sights set on both Fitbit and Garmin with the announcement of its latest fitness tracker. The Gear Fit 2 is a full-featured fitness band, and even a mini smartwatch. And it looks like it’s learned a few lessons from the surprisingly good Gear S2 that debuted last fall.
The new Fit 2 packs even more features than the original Gear Fit, covering the bases on what most people would look for in fitness tracking. Automatic exercise detection, detailed progress charts on the band, a detailed mobile app and a much-improved vertical viewing mode make it feel pretty slick based on our short hands-on time. The Fit 2 comes with a bunch of watch faces that look a lot better than what most competing fitness trackers offer.
The original Gear Fit (left) next to the new Gear Fit 2 (right)
Sarah Tew/CNET
The second-gen model isn’t just limited to Samsung devices and will now work with any device running Android KitKat or higher, but there’s still no iPhone support. It also sports a more vibrant 1.5-inch curved touchscreen display and adds GPS for tracking pace and distance when running.
What really excites me is the onboard music storage. It’s similar to what we saw in the TomTom Spark, there’s 4GB of internal storage for your favorite songs. These songs are stored right on the device and you can stream them to a pair of Bluetooth headphones — no phone required. Samsung has also partnered with Spotify to let both premium and non-premium users control music right from their wrists. At this time you will need to be streaming Spotify songs from a connected phone, but I wouldn’t be shocked if we saw offline playlists support arrive sometime in the future.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Everything else is comparable to other dedicated fitness devices in the wearable market right now. The Fit 2 tracks steps, distance, calories burned, floors climbed and sleep. An optical heart-rate sensor on the back will measure your heart rate every 10 minutes (or at 1-second intervals during workouts). You can also view and respond to notifications from your Android phone right from your wrist.
Similar to what Fitbit and Garmin have implemented in their devices, the Fit 2 is able to automatically recognize and record when you are walking, running, cycling, rowing or on an elliptical, although these use the accelerometer and not the GPS, which has to be manually turned on.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Samsung has said with normal usage you will get between three to four days of battery life, and up to nine hours with an active GPS signal, which tops Garmin’s recently announced Vivosmart HR+.
The tracker isn’t fully waterproof. It has an IP68 rating, so it will do just fine out in the rain, doing the dishes and during workouts. While you can submerge it in up to 3 feet of static, it’s not recommended that you shower with it (this is due to varying water pressure levels from different shower heads), although it isn’t likely to break if you forget to take it off once in awhile.
Sarah Tew/CNET
You would think that with all of these features, the Fit 2 would come with a premium price tag, but that isn’t the case. The tracker will retail for $179 (£125, approximately AU$250), less than comparable trackers like the Microsoft Band 2 and Garmin Vivosmart HR+.
The Gear Fit 2 will be available in small and large sizes in black, blue and pink on June 10. Preorders begin on June 3.
We are currently testing the Gear Fit 2 and will have a full review in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
Ben Heck’s NES Power Glove teardown
Ben and Karen revisit retro gaming tech with one of the first wearable controllers, Mattel’s Nintendo Power Glove. This repetitive-strain inducing NES gamepad needs to be updated — time to hack the op amps and custom micro-controller with an oscilloscope to find out how it works! Also in this episode, Felix works on remote-controlling robots. Lastly, the team needs your help for the Hackmanji board game. Share your ideas and questions on the element14 Community page.
ISIS worries that fake Android apps are spying on its ranks
ISIS’ attempts to disseminate its extreme message through mobile apps might be backfiring. Motherboard has learned that the group is warning members of fake, malware-laden versions of its Android apps that allegedly spy on users. While it’s not clear who’s creating the apps (besides “dubious sources”), it’s implied that at least one government is trying to snoop on ISIS through unsuspecting members. Those militants can’t just stick to ‘official’ sources to be safe, either — ISIS’ official channels frequently go down, so many of those backing the group’s hateful cause have no choice but to go through unofficial routes.
The revelations show just how difficult it’s becoming for ISIS to spread propaganda now that governments and social networks are doing more to fight online extremism. Simply put, the outfit can’t assume that any of its digital communication avenues are reliable, whether they’re apps or chat channels. It either has to withdraw its efforts or accept that spying and takedowns will be par for the course. Not that anyone targeted by the ultra-violent organization is about to complain, mind you.
Source: Motherboard
AIVAnet 