The company’s first product launched at the ISE Trade Show in Amsterdam. It’s a screen that might be a little too large for your smartphone: an HD 32-inch LED-backlit affair, 55 mm thick.

If the company delivers on its promises, FlatFrog may be pointing to an era not just of warmer fingers during winter months, but also of ubiquitous, larger touch screens.

“Imagine a restaurant table which is a touch screen where each seated guest can order from the digital menu and play a game or read the paper while waiting for the food,” the company said in a release announcing the product. “A wall in a fitting room where you can see yourself in a variety of garments and colours. Or a gaming table where the participants play electronic poker with each other.”

Don’t just imagine it; take a look for yourself. (Please bear with the irritating music and overdramatic close-ups to get to the cool stuff, or just skip to around the 00:27 mark.)

What are the various ways we might use technology like this? FlatFrog imagines a few in another video from its site. Turns out we may not need coffee table books anymore, when our coffee tables themselves become entertainment portals.

Further videos show that the product was a hit at ISE. And though I’ve tried my hardest to get through this post without mentioning a certain Tom Cruise movie… does this technology remind you of any other interface?

No? Are you sure?

Minority Report, guys. I’m talking about Minority Report. This thing is like the Minority Report interface.

And one more, for good measure. The gaming possibilities of the screen, of course, are endless. Makers of bar favorite Photo Hunt, watch out!

<!–
E-mail
Print
Favorite
Share




–>

Article source: http://feeds.technologyreview.com/click.phdo?i=2f99c064a03f0d9c8ae0b48ff4c3633e
Note: The Articles are taken from Feeds, used for informational purposes and submitted by users. If you think your articles/blogs are being misused, please email us and we will take them off. Thanks

What exactly is Solve for X? Google does a good job explaining it on its blog: essentially, it’s a conference series that will spotlight what Google calls “technology moonshots.” Aim high, could be Solve for X’s motto. “Moonshots live in the gray area between audacious projects and pure science fiction; they are 10x improvement, not 10%,” writes Google.

Google already held its inaugural event last week, in the CordeValle resort in San Martin, California, per the BBC; it plans to hold more such conferences “a few times a year.” This looks like something Google’s been planning to launch for a while; it already has up a fairly elaborate site, wesolveforx.com, as well as a YouTube channel dedicated to the project.

Those videos are well worth clicking through; one of my favorites is this one below with novelist Neal Stephenson, author of “The Baroque Cycle,” on “getting big stuff done.” In the past, the sheer amount of technological change, and much of the concomitant devastation wrought on the environment, had put Stephenson off of the idea of excessive technological process. But in recent years, and particularly after the Fukushima disaster, he says, he’s come around to the view that “the threat now has become not too much innovation, but not enough innovation.”

In its own post, written by Astro Teller and Megan Smith, Google highlights a few talks in particular, including Mary Lou Jepsen’s on literally taking pictures of the mind’s eye, and Rob McGinnis’s on bringing freshwater to the world for one tenth of the energy currently expended.

Though the letter “x” is vaguely evocative of the X Prize, which has similarly radical ambitions, there doesn’t seem to be any indication that Google is putting up prize money or grant money to implement any of the “solutions for x.” The currency at these talks is ideas rather than dollars. One of the attendees at the kick-off talks called it “a great brain spa, like TED, but much more tech-intense,” in an e-mail to Mashable.

Spoilsport, party-pooper, and general wet blanket that I am, I’d like to mention that breakthroughs, in any field, tend to be rare.  This is a problem science journalists often face, in fact: how to make incremental change sexy. Technological revolutions do come, though, and breakthroughs, while rare, do happen. It never hurts to think big–and as a wise man once said, if you shoot the moon, you’re bound at least to land on the roof.

<!–
E-mail
Print
Favorite
Share




–>

Article source: http://feeds.technologyreview.com/click.phdo?i=f17f52c71907ed3cfb4706fdea0d700a
Note: The Articles are taken from Feeds, used for informational purposes and submitted by users. If you think your articles/blogs are being misused, please email us and we will take them off. Thanks

Our list of the 50 most innovative companies, including the following:

Square

BrightSource Energy

BIND Biosciences

Goldwind Science and Technology

More

Article source: http://feeds.technologyreview.com/click.phdo?i=705b88bb9a461626d609b001a086f1de
Note: The Articles are taken from Feeds, used for informational purposes and submitted by users. If you think your articles/blogs are being misused, please email us and we will take them off. Thanks

Longbow Research analyst Joanne Feeney this morning raised her rating on the chip maker’s shares to Buy from Hold, setting a $10 price target. The stock closed Monday at $6.92.

Feeney asserts in a research note that the microprocessor company has “finally” cleared supplier headwinds that constrained its 2011 results.

“Following a year of supply problems, AMD now looks well positioned to serve its accumulation of design wins,” she writes. “Supply constraints have lifted and we estimate 2012 production capacity to be over 50% higher than in 2011.” She adds that the company’s product road map and recent design wins “point to further market shares gains” in server and notebook processors.

Feeney also contends that gross margins are expanding, while operating expenses remain under control. And she says that strong cash flow generation points to further debt reduction and a reduced interest payment burden in 2012 and beyond.

The analyst boosts her 2012 forecast to $7 billion in revenue and non-GAAP profits of 82 cents, up from $6.9 billion and 71 cents. For 2013, she goes to $7.7 billion and $1 a share from $7.1 billion and 89 cents. Consensus estimates are 64 cents for this year and 80 cents for next year.

AMD is up 19 cents, or 2.7%, to $7.11.

Article source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2012/02/07/amd-time-to-buy-longbow-boosts-to-buy-sets-10-target/
Note: The Articles are taken from Feeds, used for informational purposes and submitted by users. If you think your articles/blogs are being misused, please email us and we will take them off. Thanks

Smartphones and tablets are transforming healthcare by shifting control to patients, but the evolution is not without its challenges.

The Future of mHealth is our series that explores opportunities and challenges of mHealth, which aims to put widespread access to healthcare within the reach of those who need it most.

Healthcare challenges are on the rise worldwide. Chronic conditions take an ever-greater toll, and costs are on the rise. But health insurance no longer bridges the gap for many, and healthcare systems struggle to balance the need for top-notch care and innovation against shrinking budgets.

Answering the challenge, many parties in the medical industry are ramping up development of apps and software for mobile devices, which may increase speed and ease the delivery of healthcare to patients who need it most, especially in areas like preventing diseases, managing chronic conditions, and navigating the complexities of the hospital and insurance systems. The payoff could be great, but the incorporation of mobile technology into the complicated healthcare system is not without its perils.

Motivation, Education, and Prevention on the Go

According to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention, conditions such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis and cancer are the most common and costly health problems in the U.S.

Habits like smoking, a sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, high stress, or excess body weight increase risks for conditions like heart disease that threaten life and health. These diseases represent the largest concentration of healthcare spending, taking a huge toll on both well-being and wallets.

People can largely prevent or control these conditions, however, by instigating healthy changes and staying motivated to stick with them. Mobile health solutions can help consumers achieve this goal, bringing them a step closer to better health through education and motivation, and ultimately streamlining use of the healthcare system.

Apps such as MealSnap provide an instant calorie count when a user snaps a picture of their plate with a smartphone, encouraging healthy eating.

Other apps, such as FitBit and Fooducate, track exercise and calorie intake to help people stay on course with weight loss, while the government-sponsored Text4Health program is proven to help people stay tobacco-free through use of motivating and informational text messages.

Other apps help people track exercise intensity and time, use the GPS in their phones to map running and walking routes, compete against themselves and others to take more steps or perform more activity minutes, and keep a daily diary to identify and avoid triggers for conditions such as migraines and asthma.

Managing Conditions Gets Easier

Article source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/mobiledia/2012/02/07/the-future-of-mhealth-putting-patients-in-the-drivers-seat/
Note: The Articles are taken from Feeds, used for informational purposes and submitted by users. If you think your articles/blogs are being misused, please email us and we will take them off. Thanks

Kym McNicholas, Forbes Staff

Covering tech and the power brokers of Silicon Valley.

+ Follow on Forbes

Article source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kymmcnicholas/2012/02/07/will-wright-offers-timeline-for-his-next-big-game/
Note: The Articles are taken from Feeds, used for informational purposes and submitted by users. If you think your articles/blogs are being misused, please email us and we will take them off. Thanks

ACTA would establish a framework for fighting copyright infringement across international borders, be it physical or digital. Opponents of ACTA say it is too far-reaching, and warn that it could lead to a crackdown on small-scale digital piracy and have unintended consequences for generic drugs, which are classified along with counterfeit ones. Critics also worry that it will be up to individual countries to decide what constitutes a “commercial” level of piracy, and say the treaty was drawn up with little public consultation.

The protests follow unprecedented online action against two anti-piracy bills in the U.S. last month, when several major websites, including Google and Wikipedia, blacked out content, and millions of Internet users signed petitions to protest two proposed bills: the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA), forcing many legislators to withdraw support for the proposed legislation.

A combination of events has combined to fuel a newfound advocacy among ordinary Internet users, say tech lawyers, scholars, and activists. Besides SOPA and PIPA, there was last year’s Wikileaks saga and last month’s coordinated global raid against the file-sharing website Megaupload.

<!–

Story continues below

–>

“I think many citizens worldwide connected the dots due to the awareness that SOPA/PIPA and Megaupload got,” says Jeremie Zimmerman, the head of the French Internet advocacy group La Quadrature du Net. “It shone light on ACTA, which ironically came much earlier in time, as it is the blueprint for SOPA/PIPA.”

Last Friday, Polish president Donald Tusk said his government was suspending the ratification process following large street protests in his country. Meanwhile, the Slovenia representative to the treaty apologized for her support, as Anonymous attacked the website of a major Slovenian bank. Members of the Bulgarian parliament also wore the Guy Fawkes masks associated with Anonymous as a means of protest, following the government’s signing of ACTA. Further anti-ACTA protests are scheduled for various European cities on February 11.

The United States, Canada, South Korea, Japan, Morocco, Mexico, Singapore, the European Union, and many other nations are party to the agreement, which will take effect if it’s ratified by at least six members. So far, none have ratified the agreement. Critics say the agreement would stifle freedom of expression online.

Article source: http://feeds.technologyreview.com/click.phdo?i=61ed7135651b4959bcd034322ab8d6f0
Note: The Articles are taken from Feeds, used for informational purposes and submitted by users. If you think your articles/blogs are being misused, please email us and we will take them off. Thanks

Warrior is the latest invention from iRobot, the Bedford, Massachusetts, company best known for the Roomba robotic vacuum, and its line of remote-control PackBots, used by U.S. combat forces to disable improvised explosive devices and perform other dangerous tasks. The robot could be weaponized—in one test it launched a rocket that trailed explosives behind it to clear mines or other obstacles (see video).

Warrior, at just over 450 pounds, including its arm, is more than five times as heavy and much larger and stronger than a PackBot. That means Warrior can be much more of a generalist, says Tim Trainer, iRobot’s vice president of operations for government and industrial robots. “With the small robots, you really have to optimize them for specific missions. With Warrior, you can provide more flexibility.”

Packbot is designed to be carried like a backpack. Warrior is far too big, being just under a meter long, and standing a little over half a meter tall with its arm folded down. The robot’s electric motor gives it a top speed of eight miles per hour (five kilometers per hour) and enough power to pull a large car. The robot’s tracks and “flippers” allow it to climb over obstacles half a meter in height, and to rear up and reach its arm up to 3.5 meters from the ground. The arm can lift more than 150 pounds (68 kilograms).

<!–

Story continues below

–>

Two prototypes of the robots, without fully polished hardware and software, were sent to explore damaged buildings at the site of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant after the nuclear accident last year. Various Warrior prototypes have been seen at trade shows over the last few years, but only now, after extensive testing, has the design been finalized. Warriors are now ready to enter manufacturing and can be ordered, iRobot says, although it doesn’t yet have any orders to announce.

Warrior is controlled using iRobot’s Aware 2 software and—like the company’s other ground robots—operated remotely using an Xbox controller. The driver sees the view from up to six cameras on the robot’s chassis, arm, and gripper.

Trainer says that a Warrior could be used for everything from search and rescue—for example, lifting aside rubble—to more delicate maneuvers, such as opening a car door to investigate a suspect package. Other attachments, such as x-ray equipment or firefighting gear, will also be made available.

Workers at Fukushima Daiichi didn’t have the benefit of any special equipment, but still managed to use the robot to clean up radiation-contaminated rooms to make it safe for humans to enter, says Trainer. “They duct-taped a vacuum cleaner onto the arm to suck up the radioactive dust.” 

Article source: http://feeds.technologyreview.com/click.phdo?i=5937eec5b131a89c6c748baeed962e54
Note: The Articles are taken from Feeds, used for informational purposes and submitted by users. If you think your articles/blogs are being misused, please email us and we will take them off. Thanks

Twitter has revolutionised the way millions of people receive news and the type of news they get. So it’s no surprise that there is huge interest in predicting what kind of stories are likely to spread furthest and fastest.

One way to make this kind of prediction is to study how a story spreads soon after it is released into the wild. Various groups have shown that this early popularity can be a good predictor of a story’s later spread. 

A couple of years ago, Bernardo Huberman and pals at HP’s Social Computing Lab in Palo Alto used this approach to predict the eventual box office revenues based on the rate of tweets about a film soon after it was released.   

The problem with this method is that the structure of the network can have a profound effect on the way tweets spread and this has little to do with the content and its appeal. 

So Huberman is now taking another approach. This time he wants to know whether their is something about the news stories themselves that determine their popularity. In other words, he’s looking for factors that determine how popular a news story will be before it is even published.    

To find out, Huberman and his colleagues examined the content of news stories during  a single week in August last year as measured by the news feed aggregator Feedzilla. They scored each article based on four criteria: the news source that generates and posts the article; the category of news; the subjectivity of the language; and the people and things named in the article.

They then measured the way these news stories spread across the Twitter network to see which became popular and how quickly. They used this to work out how an article’s score in each criterion is linked to its eventual popularity    

Finally, having worked out what factors make an article successful, they used this to predict how popular other articles would be. 

Here’s their conclusion: “Our experiments show that it is possible to estimate ranges of popularity with an overall accuracy of 84% considering only content features.”

So before anybody lays eyes on these articles, it’s possible to work out in advance how popular they are likely to become. 

That’s pretty impressive and may herald important changes in the way articles are written and edited. It’s not hard to imagine an automated article checker–rather like the grammar checkers in word processing programs–that reads articles and predicts how popular they are likely to be when published.  

In a sense, that’s what journalists do now when they choose topics to write about. But this process is entirely intuitive, based as much on gut feel as on a good understanding of the dynamics of the audience. Huberman’s algorithm could automate this process. 

That would have profound effects on the generation of news stories. On the one hand, it could lead to the homogenisation of stories as news organisations focus on optimising their stories for this algorithm. 

Exactly that process happened in Hollywood a few years ago when story telling became homogenised in the manner outlined by Robin Mckee in his highly successful Story seminars. 

On the other hand, automation could lead to a new generation of more tightly written and better focused stories that  build on the new algorithm and better it. 

Interesting times. One way or another, the way we produce written content is changing. And rapidly.  

Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1202.0332: The Pulse of News in Social Media: Forecasting Popularity

<!–
E-mail
Print
Favorite
Share




–>

Article source: http://feeds.technologyreview.com/click.phdo?i=818df94433bab9518c74b58a5bc9398f
Note: The Articles are taken from Feeds, used for informational purposes and submitted by users. If you think your articles/blogs are being misused, please email us and we will take them off. Thanks

“Jump on board.  It’s going to be big!” –eamonjethi, a Pinterest user.

“I’m in Pinterest heaven!” – Sophie Saks, a Pinterest user

“Oh brother, ANOTHER social media site?” – Gene Marks, small business owner

Tell any small business owner that there’s a new social media service and brace yourself for the response.  It’s likely to be:  “A new one?  I can’t even keep track of all the existing ones!”

And this is true.  Every pundit, every marketing expert, every techno guru tells us again and again that we need to be using social media.  And yet most of the small business owners I meet still haven’t figured out how to get any return on investment from the activity.  Not to say that social media isn’t profitable for some.  But the time required is just too much for the great many of us.

And now, there’s another social media service taking the online world by storm.  It’s called Pinterest.

Is this the answer for small business?  Does Pinterest make it easier to do social media?  Have we finally discovered a social media service that can provide that return on investment that we’re all so desperately looking for?

No, no and no.  Pinterest does not solve any of these problems.  It’s just another social media service.  And it’s pretty cool.  But this is the real world.  So like all social media services, you’ll need to invest a significant amount of time with it to make it work.  And that’s assuming it’s worth the time.  But I’ll get to that shortly.

You can’t deny the media buzz.  This is a bona fide company, with a good management team and a reputable group of investors.  The two year old firm has been receiving a lot of attention lately.  TechCrunch awarded the company its Best New Startup of 2011 accolade.  The site drew more than seven million unique visitors in December alone (up from 1.68 million in September).  One study claims that Pinterest drives more referral traffic to online retailers than Google+, YouTube, Reddit and LinkedIn….combined, and is quickly gaining on Twitter.

So…yes.  Oh brother.  Another social media site.  With legs.  Which means small businesses have to take notice.  Because it may be relevant.  Or it may not.  But we can’t ignore it.

Unless the site ignores us.  I recently tried to open an account on Pinterest and was put on a “waiting list.” I’m guessing this is because some users have complained of server outages and other annoyances so the company is trying to control its growth.  Which is not a bad idea, assuming the situation doesn’t last that long.  So my experience so far has only been to read about other peoples’ experiences and to browse the site in great detail.

Article source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/quickerbettertech/2012/02/06/my-interest-in-pinterest/
Note: The Articles are taken from Feeds, used for informational purposes and submitted by users. If you think your articles/blogs are being misused, please email us and we will take them off. Thanks