Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts

Wednesday, 24 May 2017

This RoboCop car comes with an intruder-chasing drone as a sidekick




Meet O-R3. It’s the world’s first robotic security car.

Singapore startup company Otsaw Robotics created the 176-pound miniature automated vehicle.

It has 3D LIDAR sensors and GPS, and once it detects an intruder…

it will send a drone after the interloper up to 328 feet away.

This can be especially useful if there are obstacles in the vehicle’s way…

since it provides an aerial view to help capture someone running away.

Read More Article...

How to protect your phone from border guards, and why it's probably a bad idea



If the government wants your data, they're probably going to get it — one way or another. 

As many are belatedly realizing under the administration of Donald Trump, Fourth Amendment protections against "unreasonable search and seizure" pretty much go up in smoke at the U.S. border. Travelers entering the country have long been accustomed to handing over luggage for inspection, but the amount and scope of private information kept on phones and laptops means that with a simple search Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials are now able to peer into the most intimate details of people's lives. 

Here's the bad news: With the legal status of such digital searches mostly clear, there isn't much the average person can do about it. 


A Hacker Bypassed The Galaxy S8's Iris Scanner With Just An Infrared Photo And A Contact Lens


Galaxy S8’s iris scanner was marketed as a step above traditional fingerprint scanners, able to keep your smartphone secure from prying eyes. So it’s a bit of a downer to learn that someone managed to bypass it with a basic digital camera and a few dollars.

Renowned white hat hacker Jan Krissler, who goes by Starbug online, set out to circumvent the S8’s security system by using a low-tech hack instead of any coding whatsoever. And he did it with a point-and-shoot camera and a contact lens. 



This $5000 Google Touchscreen Whiteboard Aims To Add A Whole Lot Of Fun To Any Team Project


Using markers and a whiteboard for office meetings is so old school. That’s probably why Google is now marketing a completely new kind of whiteboard, for $5,000 (Rs 3,24,700)!

The Jamboard is an interactive whiteboard for your conference room, first announced in October 2016. No, you don’t actually write anything on it, it’s actually a gigantic 4K touchscreen, to help collaborate in the office.



Sphero's Lightning McQueen robot is real enough to star in its own movie


Pixar’s original Cars movie worked because you believed cars had feelings. 

Anthropomorphized vehicles talking, fighting, falling in love. It all clicked because of Pixar’s animation prowess and the voice talents of people like Owen Wilson. 

That magic, though, doesn’t always translate to the real world. Toys built around these movies are generally disappointing because they can’t capture the personality and emotion of the original characters.



The sorry state of digital security means being paranoid is no longer enough


You just wanted to see the photos your friend shared. Or buy a pair of shoes. Or read that story. 

Now your email account's been hacked, your credit card number's been stolen, and your computer for some reason is mining bitcoin. 

Welcome to the Internet of Today. The Internet of Tomorrow is shaping up to be a lot worse. 

But this is not the story of hijacked wireless security cameras crashing the internet, ransomware locking up England's NHS, or a teddy bear that exposes you to hackers. Rather, this is about how securely navigating the internet for simple day-to-day tasks is becoming harder and harder while at the same time our dependency on successfully doing so is only increasing.



Apple Switch ads get the point across and that's it


Clever and funny are out. Short and obvious are in.

Watching Apple's new collection of Switch Ads, I was instantly nostalgic for the company's iconic "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" ads that introduced us to the wit and comic-timing of John Hodgman and lovable knowingness of Justin Long.

In those ads, they were affable counterparts in the computing spectrum. Hodgman personified the buttoned-down nature of the Windows PC industry and user—as well as every issue the pre-Windows 10 PC had—while Long was the cool Mac, impervious to Windows viruses and honestly concerned for the well-being of his beleaguered friend.



Tuesday, 23 May 2017

Dubai Is Getting The World's First Robot Police Officer To Fight Crime In A Tech Savvy Manner


Dubai is taking a page out of a science fiction movie and launching the world’s first ever robot police officer.

Designed by Spain-based PAL Robotics, the REEM robot stands 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighs 100 kg and sports white plastic show armour and rolling along on a set of wheels.

Of course, this isn't anything like Robocop, though it may be the first step in a prolonged evolution of robotic police. It’s not yet confirmed what functions REEM will serve, though the prototype model unveiled last year was basically a mobile help terminal.



Few Engineering Students Built A Rocket From Scratch & Launched It To A Record-Breaking Height


Only a short decade ago the orbital space and beyond was only reachable by government agencies with large space budget. Now, even students are slapping together rockets bound for the skies. And breaking records!

A group of engineering students from the University of Southern California designed and manufactured a rocket recently, called the Fathom II. Earlier in March, they launched it from Spaceport America in New Mexico.



The most important announcements from Google's big developers' conference


If this is May, it must be time for Google I/O.

That would be Google’s 10th annual developers’ conference. Like most devcons these days, its primary audience is software writers. But the opening keynote unveiled lots of developments that even non-nerds can understand: new features coming soon to Google products.

CEO Sundar Pichai opened his keynote speech with an observation: That Google (GOOG, GOOGL) may have begun life as a search company, but it’s now become an artificial intelligence (AI) company. Examples were everywhere.



How Google's trying to make the mobile web look less ugly


MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—The company responsible for a large fraction of the hours we while away on the web isn’t happy with how inefficiently we spend that time on our phones.

At its I/O conference here, Google (GOOG, GOOGL) touted the progress of Accelerated Mobile Pages, an ambitious initiative to remake the mobile web into a faster, lighter and less irritating medium—yes, even the ads that help pay for it. That is a laudable effort, and the web giant has a good story to tell so far. But it also needs to address lingering concerns about its intentions.



The inside story behind the new Microsoft Surface Pro


I’ve been waiting for Microsoft’s Surface Pro 5 for what seems like years. Now I know that my wait will never end.

There will be no Surface Pro 5.

There is a Surface Pro.

On Tuesday in China, Microsoft finally unveiled the follow-up to its popular convertible/ultra-portable the Surface Pro 4 and, as rumored, it’s simply called the Surface Pro.

The device will be instantly recognizable to Surface Pro 4 fans, but promises a brighter screen, 20% better performance, 13.5 hours of battery life and sub-1.7-pound weight.



A Robot Just Landed A Boeing 737 All By Itself And We Should Be Looking For John Connor Already


When we fly, we literally put our lives in the hands of the pilots. With average speeds of 900 km/h at altitudes of more than 9 km, what you want is a well trained human being at the controls. And while most systems in modern airliners are automated, there’s nothing like a human pilot watching over them.

That might soon become a thing of the past because a robot has managed to land a Boeing 737 all by itself. Watch it here.


Volkswagen used computer code to cheat emission tests, says scientists


Scientists says that Volkswagen used computer code to cheat emission tests and when the emission-curbing system was not running, cars emitted up to 40 times a number of nitrogen oxides allowed under the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Scientists have uncovered the mechanism inside cars that allowed German automaker Volkswagen to circumvent the US and European emission tests using computer codes.

Instagram Introduces 'Archive' Option To Make Posts Private


NEW YORK -- Instagram is rolling out a new "archive" feature that will let the users hide any of their posts from everyone else but keeping them safe to look at in private and/or restore to visibility.

When Instagrammers do not get the traction they want from their posts, they delete the content which also deprives Instagram of monetisable content. The company is now launching this feature "to keep you locked into the service", Tech Crunch reported on Monday.

"We are always testing new ways to improve the Instagram experience," a company spokesperson said.


How a YouTube tech reviewer became the face of fidget spinners at 7-Eleven


Fidget Spinners are everywhere now. They've even made it to 7-Eleven stores nationwide.

Some of the convenience markets are using an unlikely marketing tactic: a thumbnail from a YouTube video. YouTube channel Techsmartt made a video called the $3 Fidget Spinner back in March, and the trend has since completely exploded. 

Recently, the channel's fans started tweeting at them saying that the thumbnail of the video (a pic of Techsmartt's Keaton Keller), was being used as an ad for fidget spinners at 7-Elevens in Miami.





Drones could deliver a literal ton of stuff to remote villages



One of China's biggest e-commerce operators is planning to build a logistics network with drones at its backbone, as it seeks to further expand its e-commerce business in rural China. 

JD.com — the second largest e-commerce company in China after Alibaba — said that it will enter a partnership with civil aviation authorities in Shaanxi, northern China to develop a drone that could hold more than a ton of cargo. 

The drones are expected to be of a 300 km (186 mi) low-altitude network that includes hundreds of routes and drone air-bases for e-commerce shipments, according to the South China Morning Post.

JD.com operates its own logistics network across China, much like Amazon, and only works with established businesses, while Alibaba owns marketplaces like Taobao that are open to individuals. 

Monday, 22 May 2017

Mark Zuckerberg says he's not running for public office


facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says his quest this year to visit every state he hadn't before is about building relationships, not politics.

The 33-year-old billionaire wrote in a Facebook post that some users have asked if the trip means he's running for public office. Zuckerberg says he's not running for anything. Instead, he says the visits around the country are in order "to get a broader perspective."

He said Facebook is looking to connect users beyond people they already know, and he wrote that it may be important that the platform connects users to "people you should know." He describes those as people outside a user's social circle who he says "provide a new source of support and inspiration."



Need Mood Lighting to Go With Your Music? Ask Alexa. No App Required.


Ikea has made a deal with Amazon for its voice-enabled products, allowing Ikea’s new line of smart light bulbs to be controlled by Amazon’s Echo speaker.

SEATTLE — Today, most people know Amazon’s Echo speaker as an easy way to play music using voice commands, but the device and others like it are catching on as ways to control light switches, thermostats and other smart home appliances.

Now Amazon has a deal with one of the best known purveyors of home furnishings — Ikea — to make Alexa, the voice assistant inside Echo, more integrated into homes.

On Tuesday, Ikea plans to announce that by this summer, its recently introduced line of smart lighting products can be controlled through voice commands. (Right now, these lights can be activated with an app). The products in the Swedish retailer’s new Tradfri line include light bulbs that work with traditional lamps. Through the integration with Amazon’s products, the bulbs will be wirelessly connected to Alexa so people can instruct the assistant to turn the lights on or dim them in various rooms of a house.


Paytm Payments Bank to Launch in Noida: Here is All You Should Know


Digital payments player Paytm will go live with its Payments Bank in Noida today.

This would also be the maiden physical branch of Paytm Payments Bank.

Reports suggest that Paytm Payments Bank will offer four percent interest on savings accounts deposits.

Paytm has been quoted as saying that the first one million customers to open a Payments Bank account and reach a deposit ₹25,000 will get a cashback of ₹250 instantly. The statement added that account will feature zero balance requirement and every online transaction would be free of cost.

The company’s statement read: We are delighted to let you know that we have received the final licence for Paytm Payments Bank from RBI and are in the process of launching on 23 May, 2017. Renu Satti will be the CEO of Paytm Payments Bank.”