Using a powerful new software program called the Scientific Exoplanets Renderer (SER), astronomer Abel Mendez Torres has produced a stunning set of new images — including a global map — showing the distant dwarf planet of Pluto in unprecedented detail. Read more…
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The surface of Pluto like you’ve never seen it before
After three Jelly Bean releases in a row, Google has unleashed a major revision to the world’s most widely used operating system. With the Nexus 5 comes Android 4.4 “KitKat.” KitKat brings a ton of enhancements: support for hidden system and status bars, printer support, and lower memory usage. It also has a number of user-level improvements, including a new dialer, a Google-infused home screen, and a whole pile of UI refinements. The lower memory usage is particularly important because Google hopes this is the feature that will finally kill Gingerbread and other older versions of Android. Ice Cream Sandwich raised the system requirements for Android quite a bit, and to this day you still see lower-end phones shipping with Gingerbread because of the lower barrier to entry. Unfortunately, the only device that currently runs KitKat is the Nexus 5, which has a whopping 2GB of RAM, so there isn’t much memory testing that we can do right now. We’ll have to wait for actual low-memory hardware running KitKat to evaluate any of the low-memory requirement claims. We can take a look at just about everything else, though. We believe KitKat is the biggest Android release since Ice Cream Sandwich. Google has touched nearly every part of the OS in some way, so there’s a lot to cover. Read 47 remaining paragraphs | Comments
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Android 4.4 KitKat, thoroughly reviewed
Whatever happened to AMD’s last tablet chip, Temash ? We had a great time playing DiRT Showdown on a Temash-powered Windows 8 tablet back at CES, but the graphics-focused processor has so far only appeared in a handful of low-profile devices from the likes of Acer , ASUS and Gigabyte . If this lack of impact was due to the chip’s relatively hungry four-watt power draw (hungry for a tablet, at least), then AMD might just have a solution in the form of Temash’s successor, this time named after a river called “Mullins.” Thanks to its new Puma cores and 28nm fabrication, Mullins brings the wattage down to just two watts. This puts it broadly on a par with most ARM and Intel Bay Trail consumer tablet chips, which is a first for AMD outside of its industrial G-Series range. Meanwhile, a claimed doubling of performance-per-watt means that frame rates shouldn’t take much of a hit. As with all of AMD’s latest processors, including its “Beema” range for low-power laptops which should launch around the same time as Mullins, the presence of a Graphics Core Next GPU should help to improve performance on Mantle-boosted games , including those brought across from next-gen consoles. So, although AMD is now extremely late to the tablet party, it may still get there — and we don’t have long to wait. Mullins is due to launch in the first half of next year, and we’re promised a turn on a Mullins-powered tablet at the upcoming CES 2014 in January. Filed under: Gaming , Tablets , AMD Comments Source: AMD
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AMD looks to boost Windows tablet gaming with its first true mobile chip
Everyone loves talking about 3D printing , but now it’s really hitting the big time: Rolls-Royce has decided that it’s going to use the technology to help make its airplane engines. Read more…
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Rolls-Royce Is Going to 3D Print Its Airplane Engine Parts
10 years and $900M later, the TSA’s behavioral analysis program is a debacle . Here’s the US General Accountability Office on the program : “Ten years after the development of the SPOT program, TSA cannot demonstrate the effectiveness of its behavior detection activities. Until TSA can provide scientifically validated evidence demonstrating that behavioral indicators can be used to identify passengers who may pose threat to aviation security, the agency risks funding activities [that] have not been determined to be effective.” Basically, the TSA has spent a decade and nearly a billion dollars reinventing phrenology. I feel safer already. For the report, GAO auditors looked at the outside scientific literature, speaking to behavioral researchers and examining meta-analyses of 400 separate academic studies on unmasking liars. That literature suggests that “the ability of human observers to accurately identify deceptive behavior based on behavioral cues or indicators is the same as or slightly better than chance (54 percent).” That result holds whether or not the observer is a member of law enforcement. It turns out that all of those signs you instinctively “know” to indicate deception usually don’t. Lack of eye contact for instance simply does not correlate with deception when examined in empirical studies. Nor do increases in body movements such as tapping fingers or toes; the literature shows that people’s movements actually decrease when lying. A 2008 study for the Department of Defense found that “no compelling evidence exists to support remote observation of physiological signals that may indicate fear or nervousness in an operational scenario by human observers.” TSA’s got 94 signs to ID terrorists, but they’re unproven by science [Nate Anderson/Ars Technica]
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TSA blows a billion bucks on unscientific "behavioral detection" program, reinvents phrenology
Dr Herbert West writes about a reported $3 billion offer from Facebook that Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel turned down. “Snapchat, a rapidly growing messaging service, recently spurned an all-cash acquisition offer from Facebook for close to $3 billion or more, according to people briefed on the matter. The offer, and rebuff, came as Snapchat is being wooed by other investors and potential acquirers. Chinese e-commerce giant Tencent Holdings had offered to lead an investment that would value two-year-old Snapchat at $4 billion. Evan Spiegel, Snapchat’s 23-year-old co-founder and CEO, will not likely consider an acquisition or an investment at least until early next year, the people briefed on the matter said. They said Spiegel is hoping Snapchat’s numbers – of users and messages – will grow enough by then to justify an even larger valuation, the people said.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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SnapChat Turns Down $3 Billion Offer From Facebook
In a post today on Facebook, the company’s Data Center Energy Manager Vincent Van Son announced that its new data center in Iowa will be powered solely by wind energy . That’s right: Our insatiable hunger for online validation is indirectly helping to develop sustainable energy. Read more…
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Facebook’s Giant New Data Center Will Be Powered By Wind Alone
When you’re a company with $147 billion in cash lying around, why wouldn’t you spend it on robots and lasers? According to a Bloomberg report , Apple is investing about $10.5 billion in newer manufacturing equipment, possibly in preparation for those new product lines we’ve been hearing so much about. As we’ve seen with the recent iMac and other products, Apple’s already dabbling in manufacturing techniques normally reserved for the defense and aerospace industries. But according to Bloomberg’s sources, the company is increasingly striking deals to use these machines exclusively, and that in fact, some of this gear was designed specifically to accommodate Apple’s unique designs. Sadly, all of the machinery called out in the article (a MacBook-chiseling laser, something to polish the iPhone 5c) pertain to products that have already been announced, so if you’re looking for any clues about Apple’s rumored smartwatch , you won’t find anything by reading in between the lines. Filed under: Misc , Mobile , Apple Comments Source: Bloomberg
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Apple reportedly spending $10.5 billion to upgrade its manufacturing ahead of new product launches
It’s a double-edged sword: your work is using one of your favorite services to manage files and projects, but now you have to juggle two logins to maintain balance between your personal and work accounts. This frustrating practice may be “business as usual, ” according to Dropbox CEO Drew Houston, but the truth is, he finds it a little silly. “People think there’s this consumer version of Dropbox, and there’s this enterprising version of Dropbox and we think that’s ridiculous. There should only be one” Soon, there will be. Speaking at the company’s headquarters today, Houston announced that Dropbox for Business will now allow users to link their personal accounts, giving them seamless, simultaneous access to both their self-managed Dropbox and their corporate managed files. Ross Piper, VP of Enterprise Strategy, told Engadget that the feature grew as a necessity of growth. “We noticed we had 200 million users and 4 million businesses, but no elegant solution to linking the two that gave IT the control it needs without imposing on personal data.” Dropbox’s account linking hopes to solve this problem, giving companies full control over their own accounts, while allowing users private access to their personal files from the same login. The company says it’s “like having your house keys and work keycard on the same keychain, ” but Piper says it feels more like just having two folders on your computer desktop. The new system will roll out to call customers early next year, but users who want to try account linking right now can sign up for the beta on Dropbox’s website. Filed under: Internet , Software Comments Source: Dropbox
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Dropbox links business and personal accounts, says it’s tired of juggling passwords
What will Acer’s outgoing CEO leave as his legacy, aside from a bit of financial wreckage? It could be a pair of brand new TravelMate Ultrabooks, the X313 and P645, which were revealed a few weeks ago and now have final pricing and availability set for this month. The 11-inch X313 is a tablet hybrid like the Surface Pro 2 or VAIO Tap 11 , except that it’s priced higher (at $950), has a lower resolution (1366 x 768) and comes with an older Ivy Bridge Core i5 processor instead of Haswell. This strange choice of silicon could potentially have an impact on battery life, which is officially rated at six hours. Then again, the X313 has a redeeming feature in its portability: at 0.39-inches thick and 1.74 pounds in weight, it’s slightly less of a burden than the two-pound Surface Pro 2. The base spec also includes a 120GB SSD, versus the Microsoft hybrid’s 64GB. Meanwhile, the P645, shown below, does possess Intel’s latest chip, but it’s a more traditional business Ultrabook in an ocean of similar products. The 14-inch Core i5 version also starts at $950 for the base configuration, with a 1366 x 768 display and integrated graphics. Spending more will add a 1080p panel with discrete AMD graphics, although doing so will bring you closer to ThinkPad territory, especially now that the new ThinkPad T440s has launched at $1, 149. As far as legacies go, therefore, we’d suggest that JT Wang puts something else on his CV: perhaps the Iconia W4 or even the new Chromebook . Filed under: Laptops , Tablets , Acer Comments
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Acer goes up against the Surface Pro 2 with its own $950 hybrid