With streaming video services becoming more popular and IP TV coming around, data transfer is key to making this run succesfully and smooth. Alcatel/Lucent have just smashed the record which was set at 14TB/s and set a new record of 25.6TB/s. That is 25 terabytes of data in one second that was transferred with just one fibre strand. That is an insane amount of data and like shifting 1000s of movies in just a second.
This of course will allow providers to bump up the speeds offered to end users and could greatly reduce costs of communications around the world.
If you remember a few months back we mentioned a Star Trek house for sale which was created by Tony Alleyne in the UK. The house is a fully refitted appartment which has a transporter room, High tech bathroom but unfortunatly no bed. Take a look at the video to see the appartment and let us know what you think.
A new application to the US Patent reveals that Nokia are planning to create a visual search engine which will be used to find images by using their shape, colour and texture. The search engine will be able to generate keywords about each image uploaded allowing you to sort through images. If you want to find a picture of something then you can also take a photo with your phone, upload the image and the app will be able to pick out matching details.
The whole process behind this is quite complicated but very interesting to read. More details can be found at the link below.
Multitouch screens are showing up quite a bit recently. The iPhone has one and various other devices do also. Multitouch allows input on a screen from more then 1 point. An example of this could be a large screen with several people getting information from the same screen, same interface, but all looking up what they want to do. On the iPhone the multitouch screen is used for zooming in and out of photographs and scrolling through various menus.
To see the extra control you get, check out the demonstration below. It shows the new level of interactivity between you and the screen.
These are not the most attractive set of sunglasses I have seen, but they do include some cool technology to allow the tint on them to change colour. The glasses are more active and more intelligent then other glasses and can change under conditions of light, reflection and by manually twisting a dial on one of the arms.
I am not convinced yet, but maybe the technology could be used elsewhere.
The Nokia 5700 XpressMusic phone was just announced. The 5700 is a 3G phone which has more style then your typical Nokia type phone. The keypad can be twisted to reveal dedicated music player keys. Sound is produced with a dedicated audio chip and played via built in stereo speakers and adjustable by a 5 band graphic equalizer.
The phone has a built in 2 mega pixel camera with 4x digital zoom. The screen is a 2.2 inch QVGA screen.
Features
- A built-in FM radio tuner featuring Visual Radio - find out what song is playing, who sings it, and other artist information. - Mpeg4 player and advanced editor - Edit your videos on the spot with the master set of different effects and options and create new views with your own video content. - Email: IMAP4, POP3, SMTP, Support for IMAP IDLE, OMA e-mail notification, MIME. Support for attachments: (.jpg, .3gp, .mp3). - Hot swappable slot for microSD memory card, with options to expand up to 2 GB with microSD card - Bluetooth 2.0 - Push to talk over cellular network (PoC)
A new technology is being created which could allow up to 1Tb of data to be stored on a single disc. The device is capable of recording and reading over 100 virtual layers on a single disc. When it is launched (probably 2010) they will launch with 500Gb of storage which will then soon be upped to 1Tb.
Most of you will be aware of the green and black effect that night time vision goggles have. As far as I can remember this has always been the same. A company named Tenebraex is working on a system to allow users of nightvision equipment to see in colour. The goggles will be sold for about 6000 dollars and directed more towards physicians in the army who up till now, see blood the same colour as water.
Here is what the company says about this device. [It] "uses one standard, green image intensifier tube to create a true, full-color image for the user. The system is also mechanical and filter based”not computer in the loop. This means that compared to other color systems, it is real time, unaffected by temperature, light weight, power frugal and low cost. The CCNVD can generate a color image down to quarter-moon light levels, At lower light levels, with the Model OP, a simple twist of a knob moves the ColorPath technology from the optical path, leaving the user with a standard, monochromatic green night vision device with all the overcast moonless night performance that he had before.
Dodgy DVDs and CDs that skip are frustrating, especially when you do not have a backup of that song or data. The OptoClear Skip Away line of disc machines will be made available in June 2007. What this device does is melt the surface of the disc and allows it to be pressed smooth.
The device costs $250, so you may or may not be put off by this. I know I would be. No doubt local stores could benefit from a CD fixing service for its customers.
You are probably familier with the problem of climbing under your desk when needing to pull out a plug. When you are under the desk you realise that the untouched nice neat cables are no longer neat and tidy, and you have no clue what to unplug. These labels are a simple idea which allow you to mark up each plug as you connect it to the power strip. With these simple, but effective stickers you are now able to unplug your printer rather then pulling out the plug for the PC.
Sony has announced the launch of two new headsets designed for comfort and mobility. The first version is the DR-EX230DP which is an in the ear type headset with an inline Mic for talking online. It has three sizes of ear piece to help with comfort. The other model is the DR-G250DP which is a neckband headset. This second headset has a microphone built in which is retractable.
On the technical side, the DR-EX230DP has a 9mm driver unit, 1.2M cable and is supplied with a travel case. It is ideal for the traveller who also wants to listen to music on the move.
The DR-G250DP microphone is noise cancelling making it ideal for speech recognition, and better signal clarity. The device is foldable and has a 3M cable lenght.
Both headphones will be made available by the end of March.
Sony is releasing a new high capacity backup storage tape. It is named the LTO Ultrium 4 and can store 800Gb to 1.6Tb compressed with transfer rates up to 240Mbps. For those who regularly use tape backup solutions, you may be familier with LTO Ultrium 3 and 2. The main difference is that the transfer on the V3 of these tapes was 160Mbps (compressed) which has now risen. Also storage used to be 800Gb compressed and is now 1.6Gb compressed. Thats a lot of data!
As well as being a backup solution, the tape also features hardware encryption capabilities for securing data when needed. Backwards compatibility does work on version 3 but it can only read on your LTO Ultrium 2 cartridges and not write.
