src – Page 30 – Tech Today w/ Ken May

China has a microwave pain weapon of its own

The US may never have used its microwave pain gun in combat, but that isn’t stopping China from exploring the concept of non-lethal force. Local manufacturer Poly has unveiled the WB-1 , a millimeter-wave weapon that heats the water under your skin (much like the US’ Active Denial System) to deliver intense agony without injury. It currently works at a relatively short range of about 262 feet, but extra power can bump that up to 0.6 miles — if you know where to shoot, you could cause misery from afar. It’s reportedly meant to be used on the high seas, where it could enforce China’s territorial claims without the need to capture or destroy wayward vessels. There are some unanswered questions. Besides the uncertainty of when (and if) WB-1 might enter service, there’s also the matter of its technical feasibility. The Active Denial System took 16 hours to start, and it didn’t work reliably in dust or rain. Unless Poly has licked those problems, its gun won’t do much when there’s a surprise encounter or stormy weather. With that said, you might want to be careful if you go boating around Chinese waters… you may get a lot more than a stern talking-to if you venture into disputed areas. [Image credit: Top81 ] Filed under: Science Comments Via: Popular Science Source: IHS Jane’s 360

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China has a microwave pain weapon of its own

The world’s slimmest smartphone is now 4.75mm thick

How thin is too thin? Well, the Chinese smartphone makers are always pushing their limits on this end. Following Gionee’s 5.1mm Elife S5.1 and Oppo’s 4.85mm R5 , today Vivo has set a new record with its X5Max, a 4.75mm-thick Android phone that still manages to pack a number of notable features. The slim aluminum mid-frame houses a vibrant 5.5-inch 1080p Super AMOLED screen, a 1.7mm-thick logic board and a 5-megapixel f/2.4 front camera. Flip to the back and you’ll find a 13-megapixel f/2.0 main camera — the inevitable bulge that goes beyond the phone’s official thickness by almost 2mm — and a loudspeaker towards the bottom. On the whole, the phone feels surprisingly light (Vivo has yet to list the official weight) but also solid and well-made. It’s worth pointing out that unlike the Oppo R5, the X5Max has managed to keep its 3.5mm headphone jack instead of forcing a micro-USB adapter upon us. Another equally impressive feature is the dual-SIM tray (fits one Micro SIM and one Nano SIM) that also lets you use a microSD card (up to 128GB) in place of Nano SIM, but you might have already seen this on the likes of the Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro or the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 . The X5Max is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 chip that’s both octa-core (quad 1.7GHz Cortex-A53 and quad 1GHz Cortex-A53) and 64-bit ready, though the latter part won’t be usable until the phone is updated from Android 4.4.4 to Lollipop. You also get 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage to boot, while the fixed 2, 000mAh battery should be sufficient for a full-day usage; though you’ll miss out on the Oppo R5’s awesome rapid charging technology. Like its sibling devices, the X5Max places heavy emphasis on its audio performance, which is why it packs some dedicated audio chips — Yamaha YSS-205X signal processor, Sabre ES9018K2M DAC, exclusive Sabre ES9601 headphone amplifier and OPA1612 amplifier — as part of its “Hi-Fi 2.0” package. Together, these apparently outperform the Xplay3S’ offering in terms of signal-to-noise ratio, dynamic range and restoration. More importantly (for this author, at least), the Yamaha chip is actually for implementing a karaoke mode, in which you can sing along with songs and music videos while also hearing yourself — with added echo or reverb if desired — through headphones. It may be gimmicky for some, but apparently it’s also what the cool kids like to use these days. Alas, the X5Max is only launching in China to begin with: The China Mobile version will be available for CN¥2, 998 or about US$490 as of December 12th. As for those outside China who need a phone to quench their karaoke thirst, stay tuned for an FDD-LTE version later. Filed under: Cellphones , Mobile Comments Source: Vivo

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The world’s slimmest smartphone is now 4.75mm thick

Your old laptop’s battery will light homes in developing countries

Don’t be too quick to toss out the battery from that ancient laptop — it might just be the key to powering homes in developing countries, and helping the environment in the process. IBM researchers have revealed UrJar , a device that turns old lithium-ion battery packs into rechargeable energy sources for low-power devices like LED light bulbs, fans and cellphones. To create the gadget, the team extracts functioning lithium-ion cells from a trashed battery and combines them with both charging dongles and safety circuitry. It sounds simple, but it’s potentially very effective. According to IBM, roughly 70 percent of all discarded batteries can provide at least four hours of LED lighting every day for a year. That’s enough to offer extra safety to homes in areas with little to no reliable electricity, or to keep a street vendor in business after sunset. There’s still some necessary refinement left before UrJar is ready, but IBM is quick to stress that this isn’t a commercial product. Instead, it hopes to give devices away for free in countries whose “energy poverty” hurts the quality of life (and chances of a better future) for poorer residents. UrJar should also kill two birds with one stone by making good use of the ever-growing mountain of e-waste . Rather than send your old batteries directly to landfills, you could give them a second life that helps the less fortunate. That’s not as eco-friendly as truly clean power , but it might prevent technological garbage from getting out of control. [Image credit: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images] Filed under: Household , Peripherals Comments Via: MIT Technology Review , Popular Science Source: University of Toronto (PDF)

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Your old laptop’s battery will light homes in developing countries

Sony hack snowballs as movie scripts, celebrity phone numbers leaked

Sony Pictures is in full-blown damage-control mode and has called an all-hands meeting following another huge leak of sensitive, confidential info. The new trove of data released by the so-called GOP (Guardians of Peace) includes more private employee info, actor phone numbers and traveling aliases , legal claims against Sony Pictures, film budgets, scripts and more. As pointed out by the WSJ , it also includes private info of some 40, 000 Sony Pictures ex-employees like home addresses, previous salaries and social security numbers. Many of those folks are incensed with the Culver City-based company, which gave them no guidance on how to protect their identities or sign up for credit monitoring. Suffice to say, much of the information could be highly damaging to Sony’s reputation and bottom line. As pointed out by Fusion , the hackers have thrown many of its business practices into the open, which may make future negotiations with high profile actors, technicians and vendors difficult. Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton sent a memo to all employees saying that it had “recognized experts working on this matter” and that the FBI had taken control of the investigation. He also said that employees could meet one-on-one with their managers and called an all-hands meeting for this Friday. Much of the information could be highly damaging to Sony’s reputation and bottom line. Yesterday, Sony released info from the security firm Mandiant, which said the “unprecedented” attack would’ve been difficult to prevent. But many employees expressed disbelief that sensitive info like social securities numbers and salaries would be kept in unprotected folders by a security-conscious company. Some experts also doubt Sony’s claims that the attack was that sophisticated, saying that it should’ve noticed suspicious activity, even if the virus was “undetectable.” One researcher told Mashable that “to protect their image, they need this to be an unpreventable, incredibly sophisticated attack.” Meanwhile, the group allegedly responsible for the hack released another statement along with the leak. The GOP demanded that Sony “stop immediately showing the movie of terrorism” in reference to “The Interview, ” the upcoming Sony Pictures flick that mocks the North Korean government. That marks the first time the hackers have directly referenced the film, which was denounced by the rogue nation. However, another recently discovered email, sent several days ago, demanded monetary compensation instead. All that, along with another email that contained Korean grammatical errors, means investigators still have no idea if the attack came from North Korea or not. Filed under: Home Entertainment , HD Comments Via: Fusion Source: Gist (Github)

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Sony hack snowballs as movie scripts, celebrity phone numbers leaked

NASA: Mars’ Gale Crater held a huge lake for millions of years

Humans have been speculating about water on Mars for hundreds of years, and now thanks to the Curiosity rover we’re getting a better sense of how wet the Red Planet used to be. NASA revealed today that the Gale Crater, the 96-mile wide patch of land Curiosity has been exploring since 2012, held a large lake bed for tens of millions of years. What’s more, the agency found that the three-mile high Mount Sharp, which sits in the middle of the crater, was likely formed by sediment deposits from the lake. The big takeaway? Mars was likely warm enough to house liquid water for long periods of time — perhaps even long enough for life to form. “If our hypothesis for Mount Sharp holds up, it challenges the notion that warm and wet conditions were transient, local, or only underground on Mars, ” said Ashwin Vasvada, NASA’s Curiosity deputy project scientist. The only problem now is that we still don’t know how the Martian atmosphere supported such a wet environment. Curiosity previously found evidence of “vigorous” waterflow , which fueled long-held speculation about water’s presence on Mars. NASA is now focusing the rover’s efforts on on the lowest layers of Mount Sharp, which could give us a better sense of how it was formed. The findings will also help NASA when planning for future missions to seek out evidence of life on Mars, and potentially even affect how the agency approaches manned missions in the 2030s. [Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/MSSS] Filed under: Science Comments Source: NASA

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NASA: Mars’ Gale Crater held a huge lake for millions of years

Disney Research makes HDR videos work better on regular TVs

Disney Research has found a way to preserve the awesome quality of high-dynamic range or HDR videos when they’re shown on consumer-level TVs and displays. See, HDR videos can show shadows and light better than footage taken by conventional equipment can — in fact, the setting’s purpose is to record what we see rather than what the camera sees. Problem is, typical consumer TVs and screens these days aren’t capable of displaying them, unless they go through a process called tone mapping . Unfortunately, existing tonal mapping techniques downgrade HDR videos’ quality, so that most of their details get “lost in translation, ” so to speak, or introduce unwanted effects like flickering and ghosting or after-image. Disney’s new tonal mapping technique, however, prevents these things from happening. If you’d like to know the science behind the technique, make sure to pore over the team’s research paper for more info. Or, you know, you can just watch the video below for a demonstration of what the technology can do. Comments Source: Disney Research

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Disney Research makes HDR videos work better on regular TVs

AT&T throttles unlimited data plans at 5GB, no congestion required

It’s no secret that AT&T throttles its users unlimited data connections. The company has been rather open about the policy. However, the carrier insisted that the practice is used to reign in the biggest bandwidth consumers, only necessary to keep network congestion at a minimum. Well, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Big Blue’s info page for “customers with legacy unlimited data plans” explains that when folks hit the 5GB threshold, they’re gonna experience reduced speeds until the billing cycle is up. The reduction to compensate for congestion bit only applies to phones with unlimited data between the 3GB and 5GB mark. Of course, the FCC claims AT&T hasn’t been clear about such practices, including just how slow the connection can get, despite the carrier claiming throttled customers get a text message when speeds are cut. In fact, an Ars Technica report found those figures to dip to half a megabit per second. At any rate, if you’re a big data user, you can expect slower speeds above 5GB, even when the network’s traffic is manageable. [Photo credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images] Filed under: Cellphones , Wireless , Mobile , AT&T Comments Via: Ars Technica Source: AT&T

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AT&T throttles unlimited data plans at 5GB, no congestion required

Hacked hearing aids produce stellar ambient tunes from WiFi signals

What if we could hear the numerous invisible data frequencies that swirl around us every day? That’s exactly what a project from hearing-impaired writer Frank Swain and artist Daniel Jones aims to do. Phantom Terrains is the proper name of the effort, and by hacking Swain’s Bluetooth-enabled hearing aids , the duo has transformed WiFi signals into ambient sounds . So instead of seeing the device as a prosthetic, it’s used as a sort of super power. The modification allows him to stroll around and listen to the range of tones electromagnetic signals provide — like the pattern of a network’s security parameters. And of course, no one else nearby can pick them up. “The project challenges the notion of assistive hearing technology as a prosthetic, re-imagining it as an enhancement that can surpass the ability of normal human hearing, ” the pair’s website explains. “By using an audio interface to communicate data feeds rather than a visual one, Phantom Terrains explores hearing as a platform for augmented reality that can immerse us in continuous, dynamic streams of data.” With plenty of invisible signals floating around, there’s no end to the amount of data that’s ripe for this sort of transformation. And thanks to designer Stefanie Posavec, detailed maps of signal data along the way make for quite the interesting visual compliment. Filed under: Misc , Alt Comments Via: Wired Source: Phantom Terrains

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Hacked hearing aids produce stellar ambient tunes from WiFi signals

New tech uses ultrasound to create haptics you can ‘see’ and touch

We’ve seen haptic feedback in mid-air before , but not quite like this. The folks from Bristol University are using focused ultrasound in a way that creates a 3D shape out of air that you can see and feel. We know what you’re probably thinking: How do you see something made of air? By directing the apparatus generating it at oil. As you do. According to the school, the tech could see use in letting surgeons feel a tumor while exploring a CT scan. Or, on the consumer side of things, to create virtual knobs you could turn to adjust your car’s infotainment system without taking your eyes off the road. The tech can also apparently be added to 3D displays to make something that’s both visible and touchable. If you’re curious about what it looks like in action, we’ve embedded a video just below. Filed under: Science , Alt Comments Source: University of Bristol

Play ‘Breakout’ on your Nintendo 3DS by drumming the Mario theme

Ready to use the browser in your new Nintendo 3DS more than you likely ever have so far? As spotted by the Verge , Japanese user Guiro@Sumaburu found an Easter egg that lets you play a gloriously silly version of Breakout . All you need to do is open the browser, tap on it to the rhythm of the Mario theme song (yep), and then click on your favorite site of choice. That’ll let you smash its link into smithereens in a way that Breakout inventor Steve Wozniak likely never imagined back in 1975 . Filed under: Gaming Comments Via: The Verge Source: Guiro@Sumaburu (Vine)

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Play ‘Breakout’ on your Nintendo 3DS by drumming the Mario theme