Tag: science

Samsung 960 Pro review: The fastest consumer SSD you can buy

(credit: Edward Chester) The all new Samsung 960 Pro, released today, is the follow up to last year’s 950 Pro . It offers the same core set of features, with an M.2 form factor , four-lane PCIe 3.0 interface, NVMe communication standard, and 3D V-NAND. But the 960 Pro isn’t just a minor spec bump. Samsung has seriously cranked up the speed (and capacities) of its flagship drives to the point where such ludicrous performance may be lost on all but the most demanding of users. These are some seriously hardcore SSDs. Where the 950 Pro was available in just 256GB and 512GB versions, the 960 Pro starts at 512GB, with 1TB and 2TB versions also available. For the first time, you can reasonably consider replacing an entire array of spinner hard drives or even 2.5-inch SATA SSDs with these things—so long as you’ve got the cash, of course. With a 256GB starting capacity, Samsung was able to offer the speed, longevity, and warranty of the 950 Pro to those only able to budget £170 ($199) for an SSD. But with the 960 Pro starting at $329 for the 512GB model  (probably ~£330), rising to $629 for 1TB, and an eye-watering $1,299 for 2TB, you’ll need to save some extra pennies to buy one, or wait it out for the Evo drives Samsung is launching later this year. Although a marked step down from the Pro range in some regards, the Evos are in theory faster than the 950 Pro drives for less money (thanks to using cheaper and more tightly packed TLC V-NAND). The 250GB will cost just $129 (~£130), 500GB will be $249 and 1TB will cost $470. There won’t be a 2TB version of the 960 Evo. Read 35 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Samsung 960 Pro review: The fastest consumer SSD you can buy

Millimeter-wave 5G modem coming mid-2018 with 5Gbps peak download

(credit: Qualcomm) Qualcomm is promising to launch its first 5G modem in 2018, even though basic standards for 5G have yet to be established , nor even which part of the radio spectrum it will use. Dubbed the Snapdragon X50, the San Diego chipmaker says its new modem will be able to deliver blindingly fast peak download speeds of around 5Gbps. The X50 5G will at first operate with a bandwidth of about 800MHz on the 28GHz millimetre wave (mmWave in Qualcomm jargon) spectrum, a frequency that’s also being investigated by Samsung, Nokia, and Verizon. However, the powers that be have far from settled on this area of the spectrum, with 73GHz also being mooted. In the UK, Ofcom is investigating several bands in a range between 6GHz and 100GHz. As the industry as a whole is a long way from consensus, this could be Qualcomm’s bid to get the final frequency locked down well before 2020—the year that 5G is expected to reach any kind of consumer penetration. Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Millimeter-wave 5G modem coming mid-2018 with 5Gbps peak download

Samsung’s new 10nm process promises big power efficiency improvements

Enlarge (credit: Samsung) The news hasn’t been great for Samsung’s smartphone division lately, but there is good news for the chipmaking arm of the company: Samsung announced today that it has started to mass-produce chips on its new 10nm LPE manufacturing process, a major improvement over its current 14nm process. According to Samsung, 10nm chips can fit 30 percent more transistors within the same physical area as a 14nm chip. Chip designers will be able to create chips that are up to 27 percent faster or chips that use up to 40 percent less power, though most chips will probably do a little of both instead of maximizing one or the other. A second-generation, 10nm LPP process will begin mass production in the second half of 2017, roughly one year from today. Other than the timing, we only know that this revision is intended to boost performance. Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Samsung’s new 10nm process promises big power efficiency improvements

California City Converts Its Street Lights Into A High-Speed IoT Backbone

Harvard Law professor Susan Crawford describes how the city of Santa Monica installed its own high-speed IoT backbone on its street lights and traffic signals — and why it’s important. Neutral “micro” cell sites can make very high-capacity wireless transmissions available, competitively, to everyone (and every sensor) nearby. This can and should cause an explosion of options and new opportunities for economic growth, innovation, and human flourishing in general… Very few American cities have carried out this transmogrification, but every single one will need to. Santa Monica…is a city that will be able to control its future digital destiny, because it is taking a comprehensive, competition-forcing approach to the transmission of data… Cities that get control of their streetlights and connect them to municipally overseen, reasonably priced dark fiber can chart their own Internet of Things futures, rather than leave their destinies in the hands of vendors whose priorities are driven (rationally) by the desire to control whole markets and keep share prices and dividends high rather than provide public benefits. Santa Monica’s CIO warns that now telecoms “are looking for exclusive rights to poles and saying they can’t co-locate [with their competitors]. They’re all hiring firms to lock up their permits and rights to as many poles as possible, as quickly as possible, before governments can organize.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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California City Converts Its Street Lights Into A High-Speed IoT Backbone

Verizon Is Now Selling Unlimited Data In 30-Minute Increments

Verizon has unveiled a new pay-as-you-go unlimited mobile data offering yesterday called PopData that has some significant strings attached. The option charges you $2 for 30 minutes or $3 for 60 minutes of unlimited internet data. The Verge reports: Think of it like a microtransaction or in-app purchase in a mobile game, where you can’t enjoy the full benefits of a product you ostensibly already own or pay for without ponying up a few extra bucks. There does appear to be some legitimate reasons to want unfettered data access for a short amount of time. For instance, perhaps you know youâ(TM)ll be downloading large files to your phone like numerous Spotify playlists, or maybe you want to enjoy an uninterrupted stream of a sports game or Netflix movie without having to worry about your data cap. But thereâ(TM)s no telling really whether this is a good or bad deal, as it complicates how we think of the value of data by blending a monthly bucket metaphor with that of a time-based subscription system. This wouldnâ(TM)t be such a big deal if customers could simply pay for unlimited data every month. Yet Verizon — unlike ATT, T-Mobile, and Sprint — does not offer customers a standard unlimited plan, and the company has made an effort to kick users off their grandfathered plans in the past. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Verizon Is Now Selling Unlimited Data In 30-Minute Increments

DEA reverses decision on kratom; drug stays legal for now

Enlarge (credit: Getty | Joe Raedle ) The Drug Enforcement Administration is withdrawing its plan to ban the opioid-like herbal drug kratom—at least for now— according to a preliminary withdrawal notice posted today . The notice, which will appear in the Federal Registry Thursday, nixes the agency’s emergency decision in late August to list kratom as a Schedule I Controlled Substance, the most restrictive category that also includes heroin and LSD. The DEA deemed the plant’s use an urgent threat to public health—based on concern that it could be abused and addictive—and set the date for a ban as early as September 30. But the abrupt plan drew intense backlash from public health experts, lawmakers, and thousands of devoted users , who argue that the currently unregulated herbal supplement treats chronic pain and prevents deadly opioid addictions . After the initial notice, kratom advocates swiftly organized protests, collected more than 140,000 petition signatures, and convinced more than 50 Congress members to sign letters urging the DEA to reverse course. One of the letters highlighted the ongoing, federally funded research looking at using kratom for opioid withdrawal. That research would likely be shut down by a Schedule I listing. Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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DEA reverses decision on kratom; drug stays legal for now

Ancient Nightmare Wasp Is Like No Other Insect on Earth

Do not be alarmed by this heavily armed, parasitic wasp that bears no close relationship to any other organism, and is such a badass that it apparently traded flying for leaping like a grasshopper. Mercifully, Aptenoperissus burmanicus went extinct a long time ago. Read more…

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Ancient Nightmare Wasp Is Like No Other Insect on Earth

Android 7.1 To Roll Out To Nexus Devices in December; Preview Goes Out This Month

Google said today it will roll out Android 7.1 to a range of Nexus devices — including Nexus 6 — later this year (December). A developer preview of Android 7.1 will be available to enthusiasts later this month. From an Engadget report: They also confirmed what 7.1 will bring to the table. Aside from Daydream VR support, most of the new features focus on giving developers more options to spruce up their apps’ functionality. First, they can now make custom shortcuts, much like the ones popping up in iOS via 3D Touch. There’s also support for image keyboards so users can insert stickers or GIFs within apps. For carriers and calling apps, 7.1 has APIs for multi-endpoint calling and telephony configuration. Lastly, developers can now route users to a Settings page to free up storage space by deleting unused files. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Android 7.1 To Roll Out To Nexus Devices in December; Preview Goes Out This Month

Comcast fined $2.3 million by FCC for “negative option billing” practices

The FCC announced a $2.3 million fine against Comcast on Tuesday after confirming that the company had been billing customers for products and services they had never ordered. After calling the fine “the largest civil penalty  assessed from a cable operator by the FCC,” the federal agency’s announcement detailed exactly how Comcast bilked customers—and new company practices that must be put into place as a result. According to the FCC’s Office of Media Relations, the agency had received “numerous complaints from consumers” about the issue of “negative option billing”—meaning, receiving charges for items that the customers had never affirmatively requested. (The FCC reminds readers that in the telecom world, this practice is known as “cramming.”) The listed complaints revolve specifically around items related to cable TV service, including “premium channels, set-top boxes, and DVRs.” “Despite specifically declining service or equipment upgrades” Though the FCC’s statement didn’t quote particular complaints or state how many the agency received, it described a range of unsavory reports from customers, including “being billed despite specifically declining service or equipment upgrades offered by Comcast,” “having no knowledge of unauthorized charges until they received unordered equipment in the mail,” and “expending significant time and energy to attempt to remove unauthorized charges from their bills and obtain refunds.” (Ars has reached out to the FCC with questions about specific complaints and the number received; we will update this report if we receive a response.) Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Comcast fined $2.3 million by FCC for “negative option billing” practices

Sprint To Provide 1 Million Students With Free Internet, Mobile Devices

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Wireless carrier Sprint Corp on Tuesday pledged to provide 1 million U.S. high school students with free mobile devices and internet access as part of a White House initiative to expand opportunities for lower income kids. Marcelo Claure, chief executive of Sprint, said the plan builds on the company’s prior commitment through the White House’s ConnectED program to get 50, 000 students high speed internet. He said Sprint realized that while providing students with internet at school was helpful, students would still need to be able to use the internet at home. “We are going to equip 1 million kids with the tools they need to reach their full potential and achieve their dreams, ” Claure told reporters on a White House call. Sprint aims to give cell phones, tablets, laptops or mobile hot spots to students who do not have internet at home. Students would be able to choose the type of device that might meet their needs and it would be coupled with four years of free data plans. The company hopes to reach its goal of a million students in five years. Manufacturers have agreed to provide the mobile devices at no cost, Claure said. He also said the company would encourage customers to donate their old devices to the program and that it would not cost Sprint much to allow the free use of its network. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Sprint To Provide 1 Million Students With Free Internet, Mobile Devices