Tag: compare-your-gadgets

Polaroid’s latest instamatic doesn’t use ink to print photos

Cubes , unwieldy squares , bulky cameras of yore. Regardless of form factor, when the Polaroid name is on a camera it means you’re getting instant photos. With the company’s latest shooter, the Snap, you’re getting what looks like a pocketable device that uses proprietary tech to print photos using zero ink. Instead, the ZINK (get it?) paper you load in the 10MP pictograph box uses heat to activate color crystals and reproduce your 2-inch by 3-inch masterpiece. And of course, since this is camera made in 2015 there’s a selfie timer and filter presets (color, black and white, vintage) in addition to a Micro SD card slot. Interested? All it takes is $99 to sate your curiosity sometime later this year. Slideshow-316542 Filed under: Cameras Comments Tags: cameras, ifa2015, polaroid, snap

Visit site:
Polaroid’s latest instamatic doesn’t use ink to print photos

Watch this self-healing material handle a bullet

NASA-funded research has created a material that could self-heal in seconds. Two layers of solid polymer sandwich a gel that with an ingredient that solidifies on contact with air (i.e. when one or both of the outer layers is damaged). This differs from other approaches that rely on a mostly-liquid compound , or similar, slower techniques . The protective applications in space craft (like the ISS) are obvious, and could add a vital line of defense against dangerous debris. The ISS already has shields to protect it, but reactive armour in the event of damage would be even more reassuring. Back down here on earth, the same material could be used in cars, pips, containers and even phones ( beyond scratches ). Watch the material get shot and self-heal in the video below. Filed under: Misc , Science Comments Via: Fortune Source: ACS Tags: material, nasa, polymer, self-healing, selfhealing, selfhealingmaterial, space

Visit site:
Watch this self-healing material handle a bullet

1 billion people used Facebook on Monday

What were you doing Monday? According to Mark Zuckerberg, it probably included using Facebook. He just posted that for the first time, the social network notched one billion individual users in a single day, calling it “just the beginning of connecting the whole world.” With that kind of scale, it’s no wonder the exec is focused on drones , lasers and satellites to connect the rest of the world to the internet ASAP, because he’s got an idea what they’ll be logging in to eventually. We just passed an important milestone. For the first time ever, one billion people used Facebook in a single day.On… Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, August 27, 2015 We made this video to celebrate all you’ve done to help our community connect one billion people in a single day. It’s an amazing milestone. I hope you enjoy. Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, August 27, 2015 [Image credit: AFP/Getty Images] Filed under: Internet , Facebook Comments Source: Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) Tags: activeusers, billion, facebook, MarkZuckerberg, video

View post:
1 billion people used Facebook on Monday

Uber’s self-driving car efforts get help from the University of Arizona

Uber’s ambitions in the self-driving car space took a step forward today — the company just announced a partnership with the University of Arizona that will see the university become the home of Uber’s mapping test vehicles. According to a press release from Arizona governor Doug Ducey, the partnership will focus on research and development for optics systems focused on mapping and safety for self-driving vehicles. Uber is also donating $25, 000 to the University of Arizona’s College of Optical Sciences, and an internal email obtained by The Verge indicates that the donation will be for scholarships. This partnership comes after Uber officially partnered with Carnegie Mellon University earlier this year; since then, Uber’s self-driving cars have been spotted driving around Pittsburgh . There’s also been accusations of Uber poaching many of the university’s researchers, something the University of Arizona might want to keep an eye out for. Either way, this partnership is just another sign that Uber sees its future as one where drivers aren’t behind the wheels of its cars. [Image credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images] Comments Source: State of Arizona , The Verge Tags: selfdrivingcars, uber, universityofarizona, uofa

View article:
Uber’s self-driving car efforts get help from the University of Arizona

You can now restore deleted iCloud files, contacts and calendars

If you’ve ever accidently deleted a file in a cloud service (or worse had someone delete a shared file) you know that any restore feature is a god send. Apple recently launched its own file restore feature for iCloud.com users that resurrects files, contacts, calendars and reminders. The new feature is buried in the Advanced area within Settings and deleted files seem to be available for restore for up to 30 days. While grabbing old files before they disappear forever is a no brainer, iCloud’s restoring of calendar and contacts carries with them warnings that the restored data will overwrite the calendar and contact data currently on your devices. So you want to be careful before you start going back in time with abandon. Calendar restore is especially touchy. If you restore a calendar all your shared calendars will have to be shared again and events will be cancelled and invitations will be resent. This is really only for when something goes horribly wrong with your calendar or contacts and you need to get back to a previous version. If you do decide to restore a calendar or contact and everything goes haywire, all is not lost. The feature grabs a snapshot of your current data and you can just restore that. Filed under: Storage , Internet , Apple Comments Source: 9to5 Mac Tags: apple, cloud, iCloud

See the article here:
You can now restore deleted iCloud files, contacts and calendars

Samsung’s 256-gigabit chip puts multi-terabyte flash drives in your PC

Think that Samsung’s 2TB solid-state drives are pretty capacious? They’re just the start of something bigger. The Korean tech giant has started manufacturing the first 256-gigabit (32GB) 3D vertical flash memory , doubling its previous capacity record. The new tech should turn multi-terabyte SSDs into practical options for your home PC, and help phone makers cram more storage into tight spaces. You might get more bang for your buck, to boot — Samsung’s manufacturing is 40 percent more productive, so you likely won’t pay twice as much for twice the headroom. The company plans to make this 256-gigabit flash through the rest of 2015, so you’ll probably see it crop up in a lot of products (from Samsung and otherwise) over the months ahead. Filed under: Storage , Samsung Comments Source: Samsung Tomorrow Tags: flash, samsung, ssd, storage, v-nand, vnand

Read the original:
Samsung’s 256-gigabit chip puts multi-terabyte flash drives in your PC

Researchers inject oil into cells and create little lasers

The Massachusetts General Hospital research team that lit up human cells with the help of jellyfish genes a few years ago are back with a more advanced version of the technology. This new version forgoes the complicated external mirror setup in favor of injectable oil droplets impregnated with fluorescent dye. This is the same basic idea as what a team from St Andrews University recently created, except that the plastic bead that served as the their laser’s resonating chamber is now an oil droplet. While the technology isn’t ready for therapeutic applications just yet, it does hold a great deal of promise. The problem with conventional cellular markers and dye is that they have a broad emission spectrum which can make it difficult to spot the marked cells amidst the rest of the tissue. But with these miniature lasers, doctors will be able to mark and track individual cells no matter where they are in the body. The team recently published their findings in Nature Photonics . a dye-impregnated fat cell – Massachusetts General Hospital [Image Credit: Top – Arbi Babakhanians, inline: Matjaž Humar/Seok Hyun Yun] Filed under: Science Comments Source: Nature Photonics

View the original here:
Researchers inject oil into cells and create little lasers

LG bets big on flexible displays for cars and phones

More and more smartphones , TVs and wearables like Apple’s Watch now use OLED displays, but only two companies mass produce them — Samsung and LG. LG is trying to stay on top of demand by building a new 1.05 trillion won ($900 million) flexible OLED plant in Korea. Starting in 2017, the 6th-gen line will spit out four times as many screens as the current-gen plant thanks to a larger “substrate” sheet size. The plastic-based displays are aimed at smaller next-gen devices that can benefit from the bendability like automotive displays, cellphones and wearables. Most of LG and Samsung’s high-end smartphones and smartwatches already use OLED displays (P-OLED and AMOLED, respectively). Some — like LG’s G Flex 2 “banana” phone and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge — specifically take advantage of the flexibility. But, it’s other companies — the Vivo X5 , Oppo R7 and 2nd-gen Motorola Moto X all have OLED-based displays, for instance — that are creating demand for the technology. LG said it will eventually build another plant for larger, TV-sized displays that uses the same 6th-gen tech. Samsung also recently pledged $3.6 billion toward OLED production. Filed under: Displays , LG Comments

More:
LG bets big on flexible displays for cars and phones

3D-printed bottle caps will let you know if your milk goes bad

If you’re not a fan on the ol’ smell test to see if milk has spoiled , you might soon be in luck. Researchers from the University of California at Berkley and National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan created a “smart cap” for food storage containers that can detect spoilage. Using 3D-printed electronics, the lids house circuits and passive wireless sensors that are capable of determining if milk or juice has spoiled when it comes in contact with the lid. The components can detect changes in the liquid due to the presence of bacteria and transmit details wirelessly in real time. This means that you could potentially use a mobile app to check the freshness of food before you decide to buy it, for example. The group of engineers sees other uses for the technology too, including so-called smart implants that can relay pressure and drug concentrations to an external device. [Image credit: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg via Getty Images] Filed under: Science Comments Via: Entrepreneur Source: Microsystems & Nanoengineering

Taken from:
3D-printed bottle caps will let you know if your milk goes bad

XBMC’s Kodi media player officially hits the Play Store

Kodi’s media player got a name change last year and now it has something even better — official Android status. The app formerly known as XBMC is now available on the Google Play store for all takers. It actually arrived to the store last month in beta form , but prior to that could only be sideloaded on Android. Version 15 (codenamed Isengard) now supports Android 5-specific features like 4K and variable refresh rates on certain Android TV devices, like NVIDIA’s Shield . Another new trick on all platforms is “adaptive seeking” that lets you search material faster by tapping a key several times. There’s also new audio and subtitle lists, an updated add-on manager, improved video queuing and better live TV closed-captioning. It has other minor tweaks and fixes (check the source), and the XBMC foundation said that the next release would support DirectX 11. You can grab the app now on Google Play, but just remember that Kodi is a deep app, so leave yourself some time (and possibly some help ) to get it working. Filed under: Cellphones , Home Entertainment Comments Source: Kodi

See more here:
XBMC’s Kodi media player officially hits the Play Store