Google Seeking To Test Its ‘Next-Generation Personal Communications Device’
The ascendancy of Google has meant the company no longer sticks religiously to its search engine roots. The California-based tech giant has recently been growing an appetite, it seems, to pledge much more of a focus in hardware after having been solely dedicated to software since being founded in 1998. The company is now reported to have filed for permission with the FCC for Special Temporary Authority (STA), a move that would allow its own employees to test a “next-generation personal communications device” in cities across the US; including Mountain View, Los Angeles, New York and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Apple Leads The Way As U.S’s Most Reputable Company
Apple has the best image of any other American company, according to Harris Interactive’s annual public opinion poll on corporate brands. After a hugely successful 2011 in which the technology giant reported record profits thanks largely to the continued success of the iPad 2 and introduction of the iPhone 4S, Apple’s score was the highest yet recorded by the survey. What CEO Tim Cook will find even more satisfying is the fact that the company toppled Google at the top, having fallen short of the search giant last year. Harris’s Executive VP Robert Fronk described Apple as the “pre-eminent American corporation right now.”
Editorial: Apple Is Not The Company That Stands Up To The Carriers
I've noticed a frame narrative over the past few months that crawls out of the woodwork whenever Apple's dealings with the carriers is discussed. Apple is frequently held up, either explicitly or implicitly, as the company that fights the carriers. In this superhero-esque tale, Apple goes to bat for the little guy whenever they are forced to talk to the scum at Verizon or AT&T. They are the chosen one, the one that will free us from the overhanded reign of the carrier and finally turn our networks into the dumb pipes they really are. Need evidence? Look no farther than the lack of carrier branding or software. Apple really, really cares.
Record-Breaking Freefall Pioneers Spacesuit Technology
While Red Bull are looking to break the record for the highest freefall time and distance, via jumping from the edge of space, the dedicated Stratos team have also made a huge scientific contribution to the creation of spacesuits by making their own custom version, with some innovative technology.
UK Government Report Urges ISPs To Take Down Terrorist Content
A Government report on the roots of religious radicalization and terrorism has sent out a message to ISPs to curate and regulate potentially illegal content that incites terrorism, concluding that the internet "features in most, if not all, of the routes of radicalization."
Phones 4U 'JUMP'. Swap Your Contract Phone Every Six Months
We get it, and we're sure you do too if you're reading this. Two years is sometimes too long with one phone. Maybe your phone is outdated far too soon, or maybe you just want to try all of the options in the smartphone market. This is why independent phone retailer Phones 4U has begun its all new plan, simply called JUMP (Just Upgrade My Phone).
Background Investigation On Steve Jobs Released By FBI
1991 was an odd time for exiled founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, as he was up for a position on the export council (a foreign trade committee) under US President George H. W. Bush. Of course, any kind of job within Government means a required background check FBI, the findings of which have been made public today, 20 years later.
Google Close To Launching Cloud-Storage Service ‘Drive’
It’s rare these days to find Google, being the unstoppable company it now is, to be behind the curve when launching a new service to capitalise on a new technology. But that’s exactly the situation the dominant search-giant has found itself within cloud-based storage; a market so far snatched by the likes of provider DropBox, Box, Microsoft’s SkyDrive and Apple’s iCloud service. Looking to close the gap, Google appears to be on the very cusp of launching its own cloud-based storage service named, ever-appropriately, ‘Drive’.
Researchers Create Universal Earphones That Can Tell Which Ear They Are In
Japanese researchers have developed a set of prototype headphones that use proximity sensors to detect the left and right ear, eliminating the need for user differentiation between earbuds, along with some other pretty nifty uses for the technology.
An Interview With Kieron-Scott: The Guy Who Designed The Bamboo Smartphone
So the AD-Zero has been capturing the viral headlines everywhere: the title of 'smartphone made of bamboo' is something that will always find interest, curiosity and conservationalist inspiration in everyone.
But another side to this story proceeds, one that we're much more interested about, that expands beyond the 'allure' of such an original choice of material in mobile phone construction. One that speaks of the design finesses, the struggles of creating an idealistic balance between form and function, environmental responsibilities that go beyond what is normally found in the technology industry, a warmth to a product that you don't get with the trend of sterility that's formed from the industrial-monolithic design ethic of Apple products.
We talked with Kieron-Scott Woodhouse, Head Designer of the AD-Zero, and design student from The University of Middlesex, about not just the phone's technical insights; but the choices and inspirations taken while designing the phone, and the history of progress that has led to this stage.
Product design geeks will love this.
Scientists Researching A Drug That Will Keep You Sober
Like the regular twenty-somethings we are, we have to admit we're not averse to the odd night out on the town. But if there's one down side to getting merry on the juice, like any binge drinker will tell you, it's the dreaded hangover the next day that makes it all seem pointless, ill thought out, superficial if you will – besides the notes in your wallet somehow miraculously disappearing in the night.
Is This The Future Of Touchscreen Technology?
Corning, the company behind Gorilla Glass, has released the sequel to their original video titled 'A Day Made of Glass,' going into fascinating detail about the possible future uses of touchscreen technology, including advanced chalkboards and hospital room walls.
'Nuclear-Thermal Propulsion' And 'Fission Power Generation' Tech Amongst NASA's 5-Year Research Wish List
The researching of technologies including radiation mitigation, solar power generation, extreme terrain mobility and nuclear-thermal propulsion might not be the first items that come to mind when thinking of your usual wish-list. But that's exactly the sort of technology listed in a new report conducted and published by the National Research Council for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that it says the organisation must prioritise in research over the next five years if it's to achieve its ground-breaking, long-term priorities and goals. The technologies make up a small part of the 16 high-priority technologies outlined in the report.
UK Market To Welcome Android-Equipped Bamboo Smartphone
As far as modern smartphone design goes, you’d be hard-pressed to find a handset that bears not a single aesthetic resemblance to a rival competitors’ device. It’s hard to overstate just how massive Apple’s introduction to the smartphone arena proved to be – just look at the current crop of phones on the market with their ever larger, more defined, sleeker touch-screens. But that’s not to say we can’t admire an entirely unique and simply gorgeous take on smartphone design – one made largely from four-year old, organically-grown bamboo that is.
Scientists Uncover Method To Literally 'Read' Human Thoughts
Researchers from the University of California have developed a remarkable method that has allowed them to discern what a patient is thinking through de-constructing their associative brain waves. While still incredibly early in its potential implications, such a method of interpreting someone's thoughts without the need for speech to be crafted could be hugely significant for loved one's and medical staff to communicate with those who are unable to speak; such as comatose patients, or those suffering with 'locked-in syndrome'.
Microsoft Slams Google Privacy Policy In Newspaper Ad
Microsoft is scheduled to run a series of newspaper adverts throughout this week, which exploit Google's recent privacy concerns surrounding it's universal policy update. It's set to run in papers such as Wall Street Journal and New York Times, and criticises the business for their purposes of using your data for advertisers' target market data, while promoting Microsoft's alternatives to the affected products.
RIM Calls On Superheroes To Save Them. Twitter Campaign Backfires
So if you've had your ear to the ground for rumblings surrounding RIM, you'll have figured out that the company aren't doing so great. A big CEO switcharound, ever-reducing confidence in their lack of innovations, and a tablet that's failed to take off.
It's in these situations where we regress into our somewhat geek-ridden imaginations and conjur a super hero, well that's exactly what the company has done. 'The Bold Team' infographic was created off a Twitter campaign they did surrounding #BeBold resolutions, analysing 35,000 tweets worth of data and collating them into four cartoon personas.
New Mobile Device Privacy Act To Expose And Regulate Tracking Software
In light of all the Carrier IQ controversies that have accrued since the software capabilities were exposed to the world, Congress has introduced a draft bill titled "The Mobile Device Privacy Act," which looks to disclose all details about tracking software like the aformentioned, and what information it will be taking.
Ship-mounted Railgun To Become A Reality For US Navy In 2025
Defence technology company Raytheon has just received an investment of $10 million to further it's research and development of the world's first railgun, bringing electromagnetic weaponry out of the pages of science fiction into the real world.
The First Lego Man Sent To Space
Mixing both out love of space and LEGO, Toronto-based high school students Matthew Ho and Asad Muhammad have been successful in sending a lego figurine 80,000 feet above sea level, using a weather balloon.