8 Bit Future

New look for Google Maps. I’ve been trying out the new...

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:49:00 +1200

New look for Google Maps.

I’ve been trying out the new look Google Maps and really like it. Everything seems much less cluttered, and there’s a few new features. For example a search for “Sushi, Boston” shows up with the results labelled directly on a map with the most relevant results in larger print.

Google Now style info-cards show information on any clicked location or business at the side of the map, and a minimal search bar at the top left corner stays out of the way while browsing maps.

Overlays are quickly available to show traffic levels and bicycle-friendly routes. 3D Earth view is also integrated in the browser and can be accessed in a similar way to going into Street View, and a carousel of photos along the bottom gives you more quick ways to view a given location. The carousel offers photos or panoramas uploaded by other users, or street view shots from around the area.

Google also claims that the new Maps will learn from your past searches and preferences and change what is displayed on the map to highlight more information relevant to you at any given time.

Photo

Fri, 24 May 2013 07:46:00 +1200

New Xbox will get ‘more powerful with...

Fri, 24 May 2013 07:42:00 +1200

New Xbox will get ‘more powerful with time’.

Microsoft have explained how the Xbox One will use streaming technology to allow the console to deliver better graphics by leveraging servers in the cloud.

The company says it has 300,000 cloud connected servers available for the One, which will be able to be used to render background objects and landscapes, streaming them to the user and allowing the consoles computation power to be used solely for rendering better game characters. That number compares to only 15,000 servers for the Xbox 360.

“There are a growing number of transistors in the cloud that you can move the loads onto,” said the company’s director of development Boyd Multerer.

“So over time, your box gets more powerful. We move loads into the cloud to free up resources on the box.”

Video: NailDisplay gives you a “see through...

Fri, 24 May 2013 07:21:00 +1200

Video: NailDisplay gives you a “see through thumb”.

The NailDisplay is envisaged as being a permanently mounted display on a users thumbnail, giving the wearer a variety of different ways to interact with technology.

In one scenario the display shows the user what’s showing on a touchscreen behind their nail, solving the problem of trying to use a small display like on an iPod Nano, with a large thumbnail blocking the screen.

In other scenarios the display allows the user to see an imaginary interface on the users hand or arm, allowing their body to be effectively used as a touchscreen to control music or other apps via a smartphone. It also allows for swiping and other gestures in mid-air.

Glad I’m not the only one who finds the name confusing.

Thu, 23 May 2013 07:12:00 +1200

Glad I’m not the only one who finds the name confusing.

Video: ‘PediPower’ energy harvesting shoe. A team at...

Thu, 23 May 2013 07:09:25 +1200

Video: ‘PediPower’ energy harvesting shoe.

A team at Rice University has shown off their energy harvesting shoe, designed to take energy normally wasted when the heel of a shoe strikes the ground, instead turning it into useable energy to power medical devices or other low energy gadgets.

The PediPower hits the ground before any other part of the prototype shoe. A lever arm strikes first. It is attached to a gearbox that replaces much of the shoe’s sole and turns the gears a little with each step. The gears drive a motor mounted on the outside of the shoe that generates electricity to send up to the battery.

“It may be worth looking into having both the heel and the ball of the foot produce power, especially if this shoe could be used while running,” Armada said.

The students expect the project to be picked up by another team at Rice in the fall, with the hope they can refine the materials, shrink the size and boost the power output, all of which will get PediPower closer to being a commercial product.

“If we could prove that we could produce some usable power, store it in a battery and discharge that battery on a mobile device or an MP3 player, then we could prove this device works,” Armada said. “Now the next team can come in and make it smaller and lighter without sacrificing power.”

LG showing off 5 inch flexible screen for smartphones. LG will...

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:54:00 +1200

LG showing off 5 inch flexible screen for smartphones.

LG will be showing off their latest flexible and unbreakable 5 inch OLED display at this weeks SID display week in Vancouver.

The plastic display will be shown off alongside other 5 inch and 7 inch HD Oxide TFT panels which have a bezel that’s only 1mm wide, allowing for smartphones and small tablets with virtually no frame or border.

Photos: Super Potato gaming store in Japan. This is...

Mon, 20 May 2013 07:30:00 +1200

Photos: Super Potato gaming store in Japan.

This is the Akihabara Super Potato, where they have games, consoles, and related toys and accessories from all eras spread over three floors.

Check out more photos here.

Supermarket terminal lets you choose your own music to shop...

Sun, 19 May 2013 09:18:00 +1200

Supermarket terminal lets you choose your own music to shop to.

New Zealand supermarket Pak ‘N Save is installing the touch terminals at all of its 50 locations, allowing customers to que up music from the supermarkets own database to play while shopping. To avoid misuse of the system, once a song has been selected it can’t be replayed for a couple of hours.

Retailers have been accused by psychologists of pumping out high-tempo music to encourage impulse purchases.

But Jules Lloyd, brand director at Pak ‘n Save’s parent company Foodstuffs, said research showed customers were happier shopping when they were listening to their favourite music.

“And we are all about giving our customers the best experience whilst in store.”

Artificial heart ready for human trials. French company CARMAT...

Sun, 19 May 2013 09:14:00 +1200

Artificial heart ready for human trials.

French company CARMAT have announced that their artificial heart is scheduled to be implanted into patients in four medical centers around the world. The device completely replaces the patient’s original heart.

The artificial heart consists of two cavities, mimicking the organ’s ventricles, which are separated by a moving membrane that’s hydraulically powered via a special actioning fluid. This membrane reproduces the action of the ventricular wall during contractions, creating blood flow in and out of the device. The system is works in conjunctions with sensors and a microcontroller that continuously adjust the activity of the prosthesis to match the needs of the patient.

Meteor impact on the Moon bright enough to see with the naked eye. The impact of a 40kg meteor on...

Sun, 19 May 2013 07:34:00 +1200

Meteor impact on the Moon bright enough to see with the naked eye.

The impact of a 40kg meteor on the Moon on March 17 was bright enough to see from Earth without a telescope, according to NASA, who captured the impact through a Moon-monitoring telescope.

Now NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will try and search out the impact crater, which could be up to 20 metres wide.

“On March 17, 2013, an object about the size of a small boulder hit the lunar surface in Mare Imbrium,” says Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office. “It exploded in a flash nearly 10 times as bright as anything we’ve ever seen before.”

Anyone looking at the Moon at the moment of impact could have seen the explosion—no telescope required. For about one second, the impact site was glowing like a 4th magnitude star.
Ron Suggs, an analyst at the Marshall Space Flight Center, was the first to notice the impact in a digital video recorded by one of the monitoring program’s 14-inch telescopes. “It jumped right out at me, it was so bright,” he recalls.
The 40 kg meteoroid measuring 0.3 to 0.4 meters wide hit the Moon traveling 56,000 mph. The resulting explosion1 packed as much punch as 5 tons of TNT.

Tens of thousands apply for one-way trip to Mars. Mars One...

Sun, 19 May 2013 07:23:00 +1200

Tens of thousands apply for one-way trip to Mars.

Mars One opened applications for their Astronaut Selection Program two weeks ago, with hopes to start sending humans one-way to Mars in 2023.

The company has revealed that 78,000 people from over 120 countries have already applied. Applications are still being accepted for another three months, here.

Video: Google Glass: Don’t Be A Glasshole

Sun, 19 May 2013 06:58:04 +1200

Video: Google Glass: Don’t Be A Glasshole

"We have no games in development for the Wii U currently"

Sun, 19 May 2013 06:52:00 +1200

“We have no games in development for the Wii U currently”

- EA spokesman Jeff Brown.

Wow, that was fast!

Autonomous NASA rover released on Greenland ice sheet. GROVER,...

Sat, 18 May 2013 08:40:00 +1200

Autonomous NASA rover released on Greenland ice sheet.

GROVER, which stands for both Greenland Rover and Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research, is an autonomous, solar-operated robot that carries a ground-penetrating radar to examine the layers of Greenland’s ice sheet. Its findings will help scientists understand how the massive ice sheet gains and loses ice.

The robot’s tests on the ice began on May 8, defying winds of up to 23 mph (37 kph) and temperatures as low as minus 22 F (minus 30 C). The tests will continue through June 8. Its trial in Greenland will also serve as a test of using rovers in harsh polar regions to gather data.

Samsung hopes for 2020 launch of 5G. Despite 4G technology still...

Sat, 18 May 2013 08:32:00 +1200

Samsung hopes for 2020 launch of 5G.

Despite 4G technology still only just reaching many consumers, Samsung have been working on the next generation of mobile data transmission, claiming speeds of up to 1.056 Gbps. By comparison, real world tests on speeds of 4G networks in the US hardly got above 10 Mbps, or 0.01 Gbps.

Samsung said it plans to accelerate the research and development of 5G technologies, including adaptive array transceiver at the millimeter-wave bands, to commercialize those technologies by 2020.

Is Yahoo trying to buy Tumblr? According to reports, Yahoo could...

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:41:00 +1200

Is Yahoo trying to buy Tumblr?

According to reports, Yahoo could be preparing to offer up to $1 billion for Tumblr.

Here’s hoping that deal doesn’t go through, I used to love Flickr until Yahoo took it over (Related, this is a great read on that subject). Delicious was good before Yahoo took it over too… And Geocities… And probably many of these 76 companies. Yahoo just shouldn’t have nice things!

Opportunity breaks NASA’s distance record. The Mars rover...

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:32:00 +1200

Opportunity breaks NASA’s distance record.

The Mars rover Opportunity has clocked up 22.22 miles since arriving on Mars, breaking NASA’s previous record for distance covered on another planet which was previously set in 1972 when two astronauts drove 22.21 miles on the surface of the Moon.

The international record is still held by the Russians, however. In 1973 the then Soviet Union’s remote-controlled Lunokhod 2 rover traveled 23 miles (37 kilometers) on the surface of the Moon.

Could Dekko be the killer app for Google Glass? Dekko claims to...

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:21:00 +1200

Could Dekko be the killer app for Google Glass?

Dekko claims to turn the real world into an operating system, bringing images, information, and animations into the world using augmented reality through Google Glass.

It’s hard to explain exactly, so check out the video!

Google I/O day one highlights. Google’s I/O developer...

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:37:00 +1200

Google I/O day one highlights.

Google’s I/O developer conference got underway Wednesday without anything like the headline grabbing demonstration of Glass at last years Day One keynote, but there were still a few interesting points:

Also announced were some statistics: 900 million Android activations worldwide to date, and 48 billion apps downloaded from Google Play. That compares to 50 billion app downloads on iOS, which was reached earlier this week.