Tag: current

NVIDIA introduces a computer for level 5 autonomous cars

At the center of many of the semi-autonomous cars currently on the road is NVIDIA hardware. Once automakers realized that GPUs could power their latest features, the chipmaker–best known for the graphics cards that make your games look outstanding–became the darling of the car world. But while automakers are still dropping level 2 and sometimes level 3 vehicles into the market, NVIDIA has announced its first AI computer, the NVIDIA Drive PX Pegasus that it says is capable of level 5 autonomy. That means no pedals, no steering wheel, no need for anyone to ever take control. The new computer delivers 320 trillion operations per second, 10 times more than its predecessor. Before you start squirreling away cash for your own self-driving car, though, NVIDIA’s senior director of automotive, Danny Shapiro, notes that it’s likely going to be robotaxis that drive us around. In fact, the company said that over 25 of its partners are already working on fully autonomous taxis. The goal with this smaller more powerful computer is to remove the huge computer arrays that sit in the prototype vehicles of OEMs, startups and any other company that’s trying to crack the autonomous car nut. NVIDIA’s announcement should make all those companies happy. The computing needed to power a self-driving car’s AI and data crunching not to mention the huge amounts of data coming from potentially dozens of cameras, LiDAR sensors , short and long-range radar is staggering and usually means there’s a small server room stored in the trunk. All that processing power sucks up a ton of power from the vehicle and as more cars are going electric, the last thing an automaker wants is a system that cuts in the range of their new car. The new NVIDIA Drive PX Pegasus AI computer is the size of a license plate and uses far less power than the current model. But it’s going to be a while before anyone gets their hands one. The new computer will be available in the second half of 2018 with next generation GPUs that NVIDIA hasn’t actually announced yet. But there’s already one institution that’s ready to go autonomous: the Deutsche Post DHL. The delivery service is looking to deploy a pilot fleet with the current Drive PX in 2018. The hope is to have the car be able to shadow its delivery persons as they drop off packages. A driver could get out of the truck or van with a few packages for a block and when they are finished, the vehicle will be waiting for them outside the last house. So the autonomous future isn’t just about delivery people, it’s also about delivering your online purchases. Source: Nvidia

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NVIDIA introduces a computer for level 5 autonomous cars

Mazda’s engine breakthrough promises big fuel efficiency gains

Mazda has made the announcement car manufacturers have been working towards for years: it’s releasing the first commercial compression-ignition gasoline engine. Dubbed SkyActiv-X, the engine will be available in 2019 and promises up to 20-30% more engine efficiency than the current SkyActiv-G, and up to 45% more than Mazda’s 2008 petrol engine. Current gasoline engines rely on a spark plug to ignite their air-fuel mix. The SkyActiv-X will ignite the air-fuel mix spark-free through compression, like a diesel engine. This, according to the Japanese manufacturer, combines the advantages of petrol and diesel engines to achieve “outstanding” environmental and power performance. The announcement comes just days after the company laid out its billion-dollar plans to build electric vehicles with Toyota . Speaking to reporters, Mazda’s head of R&D Kiyoshi Fujiwara said that while “electrification is necessary … the internal combustion engine should come first”. Electrification and emissions minimization is a major focus of Mazda’s Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030 plan, and technically SkyActive-X falls into this remit, given its advances in efficiency. But it’s still a technology reliant on natural resources. Mazda’s electric vehicles and its SkyActiv-X engine take sustainability in very different directions, so it will be interesting to see if, and how, these roads eventually converge. Via: Reuters

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Mazda’s engine breakthrough promises big fuel efficiency gains

Researchers create temperature sensor that runs on almost no power

Researchers at UC San Diego have developed a temperature sensor that runs on tiny amounts of power — just 113 picowatts, around 10 billion times less power than a watt. The sensor was described in a study recently published in Scientific Reports . “We’re building systems that have such low power requirements that they could potentially run for years on just a tiny battery, ” Hui Wang, an author of the study, said in a statement . The team created the device by reducing power in two areas. The first was the current source. To do that, they made use of a phenomenon that many researchers in their field are actually trying to get rid of. Transistors often have a gate with which they can stop the flow of electrons in a circuit, but transistors keep getting tinier and tinier. The smaller they get , the thinner the gate material becomes and electrons start to leak through it — a problem called “gate leakage.” Here, the leaked electrons are what’s powering the sensor. “Many researchers are trying to get rid of leakage current, but we are exploiting it to build an ultra-low power current source, ” said Hui. The researchers also reduced power in the way the sensor converts temperature to a digital readout. The result is a temperature sensor that uses 628 times less power than the current state-of-the-art sensors. The near-zero-power sensor has a temperature range of -4 to 104 degrees fahrenheit and could potentially be used in wearables and both environmental and home monitoring systems. One power tradeoff is that it gives readouts slightly slower than currently used sensors, at around one temperature read per second. But the researchers said that shouldn’t be a problem when giving reads on things like the human body where temperatures don’t change too quickly. They’re now working on optimizing the design and improving its accuracy. [Image: UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering] Via: UCSD Source: Scientific Reports

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Researchers create temperature sensor that runs on almost no power

The next version of uTorrent will run in your browser

uTorrent is the most popular Bittorrent client in the world, but it’s clearly getting a bit long in the tooth. You can expect some big changes soon, though. TorrentFreak reports that the app will eventually run in your web browser, based on comments from BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen in an interview with the Steal This Show podcast. The move will allow uTorrent the offer better streaming support — something the current client has always struggled with — and it’ll also give its developers access to more modern technology to add even more features. And, surprisingly enough, you’ll likely see elements from the company’s defunct Maelstrom browser in the new client too. uTorrent will take its time before forcing the client on users, though. “We know people have been using uTorrent for a very long time and love it, ” Cohen said. “So we’re very, very sensitive to that and gonna be sure to make sure that people feel that it’s an upgrade that’s happening. Not that we’ve just destroyed the experience.” Via: TorrentFreak

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The next version of uTorrent will run in your browser

‘Anniversary’ iPhone reportedly crams big screen into smaller device

Apple is prepping up to three iPhones for a possible fall launch, including a flagship stainless steel and curved glass tenth anniversary model, according to Bloomberg ‘s Apple guru Mark Gurman. That jibes very closely with past rumors from Fast Company and others that believe Apple will release two iPhone 7s models along with a pricey high-end version. Unlike others, however, Gurman thinks the new model will not have a curved OLED display, but merely curved glass on the back and front. Recent supply leaks hinted that the next iPhone design would use a curved OLED display, but apparently Apple abandoned that idea, possibly over supply concerns. Even if it’s not curved, it’ll still have an OLED screen that takes up most of the front of the device, though. It would thus have a screen around the same size as the current iPhone 7 Plus, but crammed into a body the size of the iPhone 7. That said, Apple is apparently testing multiple devices and hasn’t quite settled on a final design. For instance, it developed one prototype that uses a dramatically curved glass back like the original 2007 iPhone, which would be appropriate for a tenth anniversary device. However, suppliers reportedly struggled to build the highly curved glass, so it has also tested a slightly larger version with an aluminum back. The one most likely to ship, however, is a device that uses subtly curved glass on both the back and front, Gurman’s sources believe. Whichever way it goes for the screen, it’s likely that Apple will use stainless steel rather than more expensive aluminum for the frame. Apple has reportedly tapped Samsung for the OLED screens and ordered up to 100 million of them, as other suppliers don’t have enough capacity to meet expected demand. The screen is said to look dramatically better than those on the current iPhone 7 models, according to Fast Co ‘s sources. As for the rest of the device, Apple is supposedly testing a vertical rather than horizontal dual-lens camera for the overhauled iPhone. It’s also trying a dual-lens front camera with a Sony sensor similar to those used on the back of the iPhone 7 Plus (above), along with the previously-reported depth sensor . Apple has been experimenting with a screen-based Touch ID fingerprint reader, but it’s not clear whether that feature will make it into the next-gen iPhone. It has also been testing a 10-nanometer processor that would be more powerful and efficient, giving the device decent battery life without expanding its battery size over past models. Much of this information isn’t new, but Gurman has one of the best track records for predicting new Apple devices, so the report helps further clarify its plans. It seems that Apple still hasn’t settled on an exact design for the iPhone 8 or X, or whatever the next-gen device will be called. Even if the company does unveil it this fall (which seems a stretch if all this is accurate), don’t count on buying one immediately afterwards — it could take several months for Apple to get all the parts it needs, Bloomberg says. Source: Bloomberg

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‘Anniversary’ iPhone reportedly crams big screen into smaller device

Stream your favorite animated classics for $5 a month

If you’re itching to return to the days where you watched Saturday morning cartoons in your pajamas while eating cold cereal straight from the box (I can’t be the only one, right?), Boomerang is now live . Turner has turned the digital TV channel into a standalone streaming service where subscribers can watch over 1, 000 episodes — and over a dozen movies — of classics like Tom and Jerry , Scooby-Doo , Looney Tunes and more. This is the first time these franchises are being offered on a streaming platform. Boomerang will add new original shows or classic episodes each week. You can check out the current catalog on the official website . The Boomerang app is available iOS and Android , and you can watch on the web as well. A subscription costs $4.99/month, or you can save 33 percent by buying an annual membership for $39.99. It looks like the yearly membership is only an “introductory offer” though. Turner plans to expand the service to several more platforms after launch, including Amazon, Roku and Apple TV. So cord cutters, if you want to plop your kids in front of the TV and distract them with a little Richie Rich , you’ll have to wait. Via: The Verge Source: Boomerang

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Stream your favorite animated classics for $5 a month

Ford’s hybrid cop car has electric boost for high-speed chases

You may see hybrids as dull econo-vehicles , but as Lamborghini and others have shown, electrons can boost a gas car into another dimension . You’d think there would already be economical hybrid cop cars that can go batshit fast when needed, but Ford has become the first with its Police Responder Hybrid Sedan. It gets twice the mileage of the current Interceptor, but “switches to maximum performance — with the engine and battery working at peak acceleration levels — when needed, ” Ford said in a press release . Based on the Ford Fusion Hybrid, it has “full pursuit” capabilities, and runs on the battery only below 60 mph, depending on the charge (Ford didn’t specify the lithium-ion battery’s capacity, but it doesn’t appear to be the plug-in model). That’s backed up by an Atikinson-cycle 2.0-liter engine that puts out 141 horsepower in the stock Fusion configuration. It will go into pursuit mode when the throttle is held down for five seconds, engaging both the gas and electric motors. While not as quick as the 3.7-liter turbocharged Taurus-based Interceptor, Ford figures it’ll be fast enough to earn law enforcement’s “pursuit” rating. With a 38 mpg rating compared to 18 mpg combined for the current car, Ford figures it’ll save around a quarter-gallon of gas per hour, amounting in up to $3, 900 a year in savings. At the same time, it’s “certified by police agencies to be tough enough to handle police pursuits for longer periods at different speeds and over obstacles such as curbs and flooded intersections, ” Ford writes. Law enforcement groups are interested in the Police Responder’s economy, but concerned about its reliability. “Anytime you can save money it is good, ” Michigan-based Police Chief Thomas Korabik told the Associated Press. “I’d want to see the car first and see how it would hold up.” He also wondered whether it’s big enough to handle the computers and other equipment now hosted by most police cars. Via: Autoblog Source: Ford

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Ford’s hybrid cop car has electric boost for high-speed chases

The Trump administration has unleashed a lunar gold rush

Bigelow Aerospace Before the 2016 presidential election, businessman Robert Bigelow was one of the few people in the aerospace community to openly support Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Now that Trump is in office, Bigelow says the new administration is moving forward with a realistic space exploration plan that focuses on the Moon, rather than Mars. “Finally, we have someone practically engaged in the conversation here,” he said Friday, during an interview with Ars. “The prior administration excluded the Moon, but that was really unrealistic. With Mars, there are issues with cost, and more. The Moon offers by far the most practical target in the near term, and of course the Moon has a far superior business case at the current time than asteroids or Mars.” Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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The Trump administration has unleashed a lunar gold rush

Zotac’s tiny gaming PC is powerful enough to play in VR

A major obstacle currently facing VR is the fact that the headsets themselves ( generally ) have to remain tethered to a bulky desktop tower. With the new Zbox Magnus EN1070K from Zotac, however, that tower is now barely bigger than a Mac Mini. The EN1070K is part of Zotac’s gaming line of ultra-compact PCs, but don’t let its miniscule footprint fool you. It offers the current Intel Kaby Lake Core i5 processor, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 GPU and can accommodate up to 32GB of RAM. That’s more than enough processing power to run a VR setup such as the Oculus Rift. There’s no word yet on when the EN1070K will be released, or for how much. Given that the last generation E-series cost around $1, 500, you can pretty safely bet the new one will retail for roughly the same, depending on the specific components you elect for. So even though it may be small enough to fit into a VR backpack , the EN1070K’s price tag may be too big to fit into your budget. Via: The Verge Source: AnandTech

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Zotac’s tiny gaming PC is powerful enough to play in VR

CBS and Showtime have two million internet-only subscribers

While CBS is busy licensing content to Netflix for display outside of the US and Canada , here its own streaming services are off to a good start. On today’s earnings call, execs said CBS All Access and the streaming version of Showtime have combined to reach more than two million subscribers, with the number “about evenly split” between the two. $CBS Moonves: “CBS All Access and Showtime OTT streaming services have surpassed two million subscribers” — CBS IR (@CBSInvestors) July 28, 2016 This is all well ahead of the upcoming All Access-exclusive Star Trek series, and in response to questions, the company stated that its service is helping to reach customers who get their TV only over the internet. The demographic is apparently “younger, skews slightly female…and consumes double the amount of content” as traditional viewers. The CBS digital news channel wasn’t included in those numbers, but still had “record” views in June. CEO Les Moonves claimed Star Trek: Discovery will be profitable “even before it launches, ” which makes it less likely we’ll see any changes made to the current strategy. Source: CBS Q2 2016 Earnings

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CBS and Showtime have two million internet-only subscribers