In-car device monitors blood sugar for diabetic drivers

QR code People with diabetes and their caregivers know that careful and constant monitoring of their blood sugar levels is critical to managing the disease. But even while driving?

In an unusual marriage of medical technology, consumer electronics and automotive engineering, Fridley, Minn.-based Medtronic Inc. and Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday unveiled a prototype device that uses the automaker's in-car communications system to help drivers track their blood glucose activity while on the go.

"It's a real high-tech approach to the old saying, 'I've fallen and I can't get up!' " said Phil Nalbone, an analyst with Wedbush Securities. "This makes good use of widely available communications technology to safeguard patients and improve quality of care."

Using Bluetooth connectivity, the system links the automaker's popular in-car infotainment system, called Sync, to a Medtronic continuous glucose monitor. If a driver's glucose levels are too low, an alert sounds or a signal appears on a dashboard screen.

Low blood sugar, in particular, can cause light-headedness, blurry vision and other potentially dangerous symptoms that could cause a traffic accident. The American Diabetes Association estimates nearly 26 million adults and children in the United States have diabetes, but of that amount, only a portion use glucose monitors and insulin pumps.

The Ford-Medtronic prototype is still being researched, so it's unclear when - and if - the technology will ever be marketed. "Today it's all about possibilities," said Medtronic senior vice president James Dallas, who attended an unveiling at Ford headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., on Wednesday. "There's nothing formal yet, but the technology has reached a point where possibilities can become probabilities."

The idea has won some preliminary fans in the diabetes community. "I know when I'm driving, if the 'check engine' light comes on, I'm going to pay attention," said Dr. Richard Bergenstal, executive director of Park Nicollet's International Diabetes Center. "It's kind of the same principle."

For Medtronic, the partnership signals a growing movement toward managing health remotely through smartphones, tablets, laptops and, possibly, cars. Dallas said the company is in talks with other tech leaders, such as IBM, Cisco, Apple, Verizon and Qualcomm, for other partnerships. "It helps us extend our reach in new ways," Dallas said.

Medtronic's $1.2 billion diabetes business has led the way in continuous glucose monitoring, which records blood sugar levels throughout the day and night. The readings permit patients to make adjustments to insulin levels, often using a Medtronic insulin pump, or by ingesting sugar to coax levels back into normal territory.

"Ideally, we will get to a place where the sensor and pump communicate and when you get a reading, the pump automatically adjusts," Medtronic spokesman Brian Henry said.

Pairing the Medtronic technology with automotive engineering may seem far-fetched at first blush, but Ford maintains that 78 percent of U.S. consumers are deeply interested in "mobile health solutions." According to a study by MobileStorm cited by the company, medical and health care applications are the third-fastest growing category of smartphone apps.

Ford also announced a project on Wednesday to provide drivers with allergy alerts and pollen levels on the Sync device for those suffering from asthma and severe allergies.

"Ford's approach to health and wellness in the vehicle is not about trying to take on the role of a health care or medical provider," said Gary Strumolo, the company's global manager of interiors, infotainment, and health and wellness research. "We're a car company."

By partnering with "experts," Strumolo said, the Sync system can be used as a kind of "secondary alert system and alternate outlet for real-time patient coaching services."

Ford released Sync in 2008 to mostly positive reviews. Developed with Microsoft, the system enables voice control of phones and audio systems and is available in most models of Ford vehicles. (It's an extra $395 when optional.)

However, as safety concerns mount over potentially distracted drivers using cell phones for texting, talking and other activities, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood expressed concern last fall about systems like Sync and General Motors' OnStar, even if they are "hands free."

There are also questions about whether there's significant money to be made. "It remains to be seen how Medtronic will monetize this and whether it will contribute to a meaningful revenue stream," Nalbone said. "But it's an intriguing idea."

(c) 2011, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Toyota to set up social networking service

QR code Toyota is setting up a social networking service with the help of a U.S. Internet company and Microsoft so drivers can interact with their cars in ways similar to Twitter and Facebook.

Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. and Salesforce.com, based in San Francisco, announced their alliance Monday to launch "Toyota Friend," a private social network for Toyota owners that works similar to tweets on Twitter.

In a demonstration at a Tokyo showroom, an owner of a plug-in Prius hybrid found out through a cellphone message from his Prius called "Pre-boy" that he should remember to recharge his car overnight.

When the owner plugged in his car to recharge it, the car replied, "The charge will be completed by 2:15 a.m. Is that OK? See you tomorrow."

The exchanges can be kept private, or be shared with other "Toyota Friend" users, as well as made public on Facebook, Twitter and other services, the company said.

The companies did not give details of how the technology, such as the content of the talking car's dialogues, will be managed. A launch where such details will be offered is set for Tuesday.

Toyota is investing 442 million yen ($5.5 million), Microsoft Corp. is investing 335 million yen ($4.1 million) and Salesforce.com 223 million yen ($2.8 million) in the project.

Many cars are already equipped with navigation and other network-linking capabilities, and can function as a mobile device just like an iPhone or a Blackberry.

Toyota's service, built on open-source cloud platforms that are the specialty of Salesforce.com, as well as on Microsoft's platform, will start in Japan in 2012, and will be offered later worldwide, according to Toyota.

Toyota President Akio Toyoda, a racing fan, said he always "talks" with his car when he is zipping around on the circuit.

With the popularity of social networking, cars and their makers should become part of that online interaction, he said.

"I hope cars can become friends with their users, and customers will see Toyota as a friend," he said.

Salesforce.com chief executive Marc Benioff said social networks can add value to products and companies. It can also help Toyota gain massive information not only about their buyers but about how the car is working or not working, he said.

"I want a relationship with my car in the same way we have a relationship with our friends on social networks," he said.

Toyoda, who has always been interested in telematics, or the use of Internet technology in autos, has been aggressive in forging alliances with new kinds of companies, including one with U.S. luxury electric carmaker Tesla Motors that he announced last year.

Partnerships with dot.com types have been a bright spot in Toyoda's bumpy career as president. He has faced growing doubts about reliability and transparency because of the massive global recalls that began two years ago, shortly after he took office, and which now affect more than 14 million vehicles.

Toyota is also battling parts shortages after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan destroyed key suppliers, hampering production.

Pioneer previews integrated floating image display technology

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The Pioneer FV-01 Floating Vision system.

(PhysOrg.com) -- Pioneer has recently conducted a demonstration of its floating image display technology, which is being called Floating Vision, that allows for a small sized 3D floating screen to be projected into spaces like the dashboard of a car. The system, which was shown off at the Embedded Systems Expo, uses a set of infrared sensors that allow this projected screen to be used in a manner similar to that of the current touch screen systems in use, in a limited capacity at the present moment. The system was demonstrated both in a car, and in the context of a customer service scenario.

The system makes use of a 3D module that has an LCD module mounted on the back. The system then uses a specially designed 3D lens, mounted in the front, which allows the image to appear as if it is floating in space. Since it only relies on one projection, and not the traditional right and left eye perspectives of older 3D systems the screen can project a clear image from a variety of angles and without the use of glasses.

At the Embedded Systems Expo demonstration the in-car navigation system was paired with multiple touch panel displays. The system allows a user to select an object on the touch screen panel the same way that you would with most navigation systems. Then once a hand is swiped over the Floating Vision display the image of the object that the user selected is projected into the 3D display map.

This system is similar to the FV-01, a PC connection system that creates a floating 3D display, currently being sold by Pioneer. The company hopes to move from the USB connections of the current systems to integrated systems in the future with the use of the Floating Vision system.This video is not supported by your browser at this time.

FV-01 system

Japanese public broadcasting group highlights two new television technology innovations

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Image: Techon

(PhysOrg.com) -- NHK Science and Technology Research Laboratories, the research arm of Japan’s NHK public television company, recently held its annual open house, which serves to show off the latest innovations in television and digital media. This year's event, in conjunction with Nippon Telephone and Telegraph, highlighted both a new way to transmit 3-D content and a way to broadcast animation in a more personal way.

The new 3-D technology involves sending signals for the left and right eyes separately; one over a communication line, the other over airwaves. The end result, when combined, is full HD equivalent video for both eyes, as opposed to the current 50% video now in use in Japan, where data is compressed before transmission. To sync the dual signals, a time stamp is embedded in both signals and a processor on the receiver ensures the signals arrive at the viewer’s eyes at exactly the same time. The idea was presented as part of a new concept STRL is working on called Hybridcast, where video content and supporting data are sent simultaneously to both a television service and a computer such as an iPad; allowing content providers to supply backing material to a device such as an iPad while video plays on the television.

Also, in a completely unrelated technological innovation, STRL showed off what it calls, Interactive IP rendering; which doesn’t even come close to describing what it is; and that is, a technique for marrying animated characters to the environment in which they "live." Which is another way of saying, they live in a box, instead of on a two dimensional screen. Thus, when the box (the television screen) is physically turned onto its side, the animated characters on screen react by sliding sideways down the slope created, till they crash into the edge. The technology, similar to the effect created when watching movies on an iPad when it is physically turned, goes one step further by adding a 3-D component and by making the content “aware” of what is happening and reacting to it. By combining the effect with realistic 3-D animation, the characters onscreen are also able to fall forward or backward, etc., if the screen is tilted as such.

To achieve its startling effect, the IP rendering method uses a technology it calls ray reproduction to recreate the way light is represented to the viewer, i.e. in a more natural, real world way.

This year’s open house, the 65th, was themed, “Experience the Future of Digital Broadcasting” and though muted by the ongoing recovery efforts due to the earthquake and tsunami still deeply affecting the country; the event was still clearly a success judging by demonstrations of such innovative technology.

More information:
via Techon

Airbus shows off a see-thru concept plane (w/ video)

QR code (PhysOrg.com) -- Airbus has begun to show off its version of the plane of the future. It is somewhere between cool and disturbing, depending on who you ask, but it definitely represents some interesting new technology that could make flying more energy efficient and a give you something a lot more interesting to look at then the in-flight movie.

The presentations, which took place in London, feature concept art from the design that the company hopes one day to make into a flying model. The plane would be almost completely see-through, thanks to the creation of a biopolymer membrane. This membrane would make every seat into a window seat by default and allow you to see the world below as you pass it by.

The real power saving innovation was alluded to by Charles Champion, head of engineering for Airbus. When he described the plane to Telegraph he described a section of the plane known as the SmartTech zone. In this zone users body heat is converted in to power for the plane. Mr. Champion was not specific about in which systems would use body heat as a power source and which would not, which has raised some speculation as to what exactly humans will be the power source for.

The plane is not expected to be released until the year 2050, if it ever makes it off of the drawing board to begin with, so do not expect to be getting rides in a see-thru plane any time in the near future.

More information:
via Telegraph

Apple patents a 1-meter-range wireless charging system

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(PhysOrg.com) -- According to a recently submitted patent application by Apple, wireless charging may be a whole new boost. That patent, which is entitled "Wireless power utilization in a local computing environment" is a system designed to exploit research in the area of mid range wireless power transfer physics. This means that the device listed in the patent is designed to use of a wireless near field magnetic resonance (NFMR) power transmission in order to power devices that are within the 1 meter range. Think wireless charging without having to be on a specialized charging mat.

While at this point no specific devices have been proposed by Apple based on this patent the prospects are tantalizing at best. The idea of being able to charge your iPhone or iPad simply by having it near your desktop or lap Mac is one that would appeal to many users who already have their USB ports occupied with peripheral devices instead of using it as a substitute for finding an outlet nearby. Since this could, in theory allow for charging anywhere at any time, it would represent a step up from the current generation of induction charging pads, since the charging pad itself needs to be plugged into an outlet in order to give your devices the juice that the need.

While nothing is definite at this point, this patent may explain why Apple has chosen not to create an inductive wireless charging device for iPods, iPhones, and iPads currently. Given Apple's tendency to take existing technology and turn it on its head, this would not be a completely out of left field.

Start up creates a 'no-focus' point and shoot camera

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(PhysOrg.com) -- If you have ever used a "Point and Shoot" style of camera in the last few years then you know that that term is a misnomer because unless you are using a disposable camera you are going to be waiting for that camera to auto-focus and that focus can take up to 45 seconds to find its focus and allow you to take a picture. It is annoying to say the least if the action that you wanted a picture of can't be stopped like a posed photo. Since that focus can mean that you may miss a winning goal or a really cute moment it can be more than just annoying.

One start up, based in the Silicon Valley, is looking to change all of that. The company is named Lytro and it is based on the work of Dr. Ren Ng whose dissertation on light-field technology was published five years ago to accolades by his Alma Matter Stanford University.

Dr. Ng has recently received $50 million in funding in order to create his company, which is about to launch a digital camera that is free of the focus factor, by getting all of the information about the surroundings that is possible. "Shoot now, focus later," Dr. Ng said today in a blog post describing this innovation.

This video is not supported by your browser at this time.

The machine takes a photo by getting as much of the information about the field of light in the general area as possible. This will allow users to adjust the focus as many times as they want after the photo has been taken. It will also allow users to alter a photos level, and depending on your setup may even allow users to create images that are three-dimensional.This video is not supported by your browser at this time.

Lytro is having the cameras made itself and did not disclose the planned price.

More information: Picture gallery: http://www.lytro.c … ure_gallery#

Volkswagen announces 'Temporary Auto Pilot' with advanced features

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HAVE-IT (Highly Automated Vehicles for Intelligent Transport)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Volkswagen, as part of the European wide research project HAVEit, has announced the Temporary Auto Pilot (TAP), a set of features added to a car that aids in speed control, lane-assist and crash avoidance.

Much like the highly touted driverless vehicles in the news of late, the new vehicle system from VW works by means of sensors and cameras mounted on various parts of the exterior of a vehicle. Assistance comes via cruise control, automated braking when curves are noted (or to avoid a collision), steering assist to keep the vehicle in the proper lane, passing assistance and assistance in stop and go traffic. Unlike other vehicles in the news however, the TAP is not meant to serve as a driverless vehicle; it’s more of a guardian angel, watching over a driver and instantly correcting mistakes.

The company is quick to point out that the driver is still in control the entire time the TAP system is in use, and thus must continue to actually drive the vehicle; TAP should be thought of as more like driver extensions, they say, not as an autonomous system that can take over the driving when asked.

Critics have already suggested that the new additions might actually make a car less safe to drive, citing the fact that humans as a rule tend to focus less sharply when they don’t have complete control of things. Since its not clear yet just how much control the human will have when the TAP is engaged, these criticisms seem premature. If after all, the person continues to drive the car the entire time the TAP is engaged, and the TAP only makes itself known if and when it performs corrective actions when errors are made by the human driver, it would seem this would require the driver to continue to maintain as much control as has been the case up to now.

In any case, the test vehicle, a modified Passat, marks another giant leapt towards fully automated cars; this because it’s clear that Volkswagen fully intends to put such an equipped vehicle on the market in just the next few years. This stands in stark contrast to other concept cars demonstrated by others such as BMW, and Google, which still have many hurdles to overcome. The difference here is that VW’s system is comprised of off-the-shelf components and the fact that the driver continues to maintain control at all times.

In any case, it seems clear that it won’t be too long before human beings will no longer be trusted to drive themselves around.

More information: Volkswagen press release: http://www.haveit- …

College student invents cardboard vacuum cleaner

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(PhysOrg.com) -- In another attempt to reduce the amount of plastic refuse that winds up in landfills, Jake Tyler, an industrial design student at Loughborough University has devised a means to construct a working vacuum cleaner out of corrugated cardboard. The vacuum, developed as part of his final year degree project in conjunction with a design team from Vax, where Tyler is now employed, has its housing made of cardboard, while the inside motor works employs recyclable pure nylon plastic using rapid process manufacturing, rather than injection molding.

Called the Vax ev, the cleaner is designed to be assembled at home by the customer using the cardboard from the box in which it is shipped. The cardboard is pretreated with fire retardant, and because it is the corrugated variety, it is assumed it will be able to withstand the rigors of home vacuuming, though, it isn’t clear just yet how long such a vacuum cleaner would last. In its favor, the entire housing can be easily and cheaply replaced, and customers with some foresight might in fact purchase some extra corrugated cardboard from their local packaging store, along with their new vacuum and then use the original panels as a pattern for fashioning their own replacement panels thus avoiding having to go to the manufacture when their new vac runs afoul of some heavy furniture or perhaps a bit of a liquid spill.

Vax, the U.K.s leading floor-care brand says that the new model will be a limited edition, as it’s uncertain just how many customers would actually buy such an appliance.

Driverless cars shuttle Heathrow passengers

Driverless electric pods at Heathrow Airport.

(Credit:Ultra PRT)

Autonomouscars aren't the future--they're already here and in use in London. Heathrow Airport swapped 2 diesel buses for 22 electric pods that shuttle passengers from Terminal 5 to the parking lot without the help of a driver.

Heathrow Airport's autonomous cars (photos)

HTC nabs Dashwire for cloud-based mobile, Web apps

HTC just inked a deal with Dashwire, a Seattle-based company founded in 2006 that develops a cloud-based platform for mobile and web applications.

Fred Liu, president of engineering and operations for HTC, noted briefly in a statement about how Dashwire will fit into the HTC Corporation:

Cloud services are key to delivering the promise of connected services to our customers. People want access to all of their important content wherever they are on any device. The addition of Dashwire's cutting-edge sync services and deep mobile cloud experience strengthens our ability to deliver these services in a more powerful way.

As for actual plans, HTC will utilize Dashwire's cloud set-up and sync solutions for mobile devices along with beefing up the extent and services of the online HTC Sense portal. Currently, the platform is supported byAndroid, Symbian, BlackBerry, and Windows Mobile on smartphones, and then on Windows andMac for the desktop.

Additionally, Boy Genius Report suggests that HTC is really more interested in Dashwire's patent portfolio. That would seem more logical given just how popular and vital patents are these days.

Financial terms have not been disclosed. But when the deal is final, Dashwire will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Taiwan-based HTC.

This story originally appeared at ZDNet's Between the Lines.

Share Print E-mail Topics: Corporate and legal Tags: cloud computing, HTC, mobile apps

Attacking home automation networks over power lines

LAS VEGAS--Researchers at the Black Hat security conference here showed today how they could disrupt and snoop on home automation networks in residences and offices using devices connected to Ethernet networks that communicate via public power lines.

Dave Kennedy and Rob Simon have created a device that can be plugged in to a power outlet outside a target building or a nearby building and programmed to interfere with the home Ethernet network inside. The X10 Black Out device can be programmed to jam the signals that turn lights on and off and open doors, as well as disable security systems, kill security cameras, turn air conditioning or heat off, and interfere with other functions of a home automation network based on the X10 protocol. X10 is one of the most popular protocols.

They also have developed the X10 Sniffer device, which can see what appliances and systems are attached to the Ethernet network and see whether the doors are open and lights are on. "We can track people with motion sensors and see what part of the house they might be in," Simon said during a presentation. The sniffer device basically "maps out the entire house," said Kennedy, whose hacker handle is "ReL1K."

Home automation systems are appearing in more and more buildings, computerizing tasks that typically require some manual interaction, like turning on lights, or enabling advanced services, like heating toilet seats. The weaknesses stem from the fact that there is no encryption in the X10 protocol, said Simon, whose handle is "Kickenchicken57."

The researchers are a few weeks away from releasing versions of the devices that would allow an attacker to remotely control the device via the cellular network, so that it could be plugged in to the outlet and communicated with from afar, instead of having to preprogram the commands. The attacker will be able to communicate with the device via text message and the device will be able to "send text notifications when someone comes into their house," for example, Simon said.

They are also working on a sniffer based on the Z-Wave home automation protocol that connects appliances over a mesh network. That device will be able to sniff and decode the AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryption keys when a new appliance is added to the network, they said. This would enable an attacker to spoof the Z-Wave basic controller for the system.

"We're trying to bring more exposure to this attack avenue," Kennedy said when asked why he was revealing the weaknesses and releasing the tools. "This needs to be incorporated into penetration testing. It is a very real threat vector."

He said he had not notified any vendors of the flaws yet. Vendors will eventually need to add encryption to block such attacks, Kennedy said. "There's virtually no security on these things right now," he said.

The researchers did find one device, a Z-Wave-based door handle, that had encryption, but it was turned off by default.

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Side by side: LED, CFL, and incandescent bulbs

By: Candace Lombardi August 6, 2011 4:01 AM PDT Print E-mail Share 41 comments

Philips recently released its Ambient LED 17/75-watt-equivalent retailing for $39.97. As it indicates, the bulb gives off roughly the equivalent light of a 75-watt incandescent bulb, but uses only 17 watts of power to do it.

Many sites have been doing head-to-head tests of various LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs coming on the market. However, I'm often asked where someone can find just a "regular person review" on how LEDs stack up against CFLs (compact fluorescent lights) and the soon-to-be-phased-out incandescents without getting too buried in stats on lumens, kelvins, wattage, and the rest of the jargon that typically comes along with in-depth discussions of these different technologies.

By pure luck I happened to have not only a Philips-brand CFL but also a Philips 75-watt Dura Max incandescent bulb on hand. So I was able to do a real-world, side-by-side comparison of each type of bulb from the same brand.

Black Hat, Defcon: All about hacking (roundup)

By: CNET News staff August 6, 2011 6:25 PM PDT Print E-mail Share 1 comment

The conferences will dig into issues ranging from mobile malware and hacking to vulnerabilities posed by linking critical infrastructure systems to the Internet and corporate networks. There are bound to be some hijinks as well.

Muttering hat, murmuring tree at MoMA 'Talk' show

prayers pertinent."

(Credit:Interaction Research Studio, Goldsmiths University of London, U.K.)

If the nine Poor Clare Sisters living in an insular York, England, monastery ever feel cut off from the outside world, they need only turn to their Prayer Companion.

Notre Dame football tests smart mouthguards

Game days this fall at the 82,000-seat Notre Dame Stadium will feature new mouth guards that record impact data to research concussions.

(Credit:John Scott Lewinski/CNET)

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football program was the first to win 11 national championships and the first to win seven Heisman Trophies. Now, it'll be among the first to try out a new protective mouthguard that records and reports impact data to help battle concussions.

Foxconn to replace workers with robots

Foxconn, the hardware manufacturer made famous by a rash of well-publicized suicides, plans to replace some of its workers with robots.

The Taiwanese company, which manufacturers laptops, mobile devices, and other hardware for Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Sony, plans to replace factory workers with more than 1 million robots, according to a state news agency Xinhua report. Terry Gou, founder and chairman of the company, told employees at a dance Friday that the move is designed to improve efficiency and combat rising labor costs.

The company currently employs about 1.2 million people, but it's unknown how many people will be displaced by the robots.

At least 16 workers have taken their lives since the beginning of 2010 at Foxconn's factory in Shenzhen, China, a plant that employs hundreds of thousands of workers. Another three have attempted to kill themselves at the job site. According to AP, most of the suicides have involved jumping from buildings.

In response to the situation, the company promised to install "suicide nets" to discourage employees from jumping and said it would offer a 20 percent wage increase to some workers.

Foxconn parent Hon Hai Precision Industries has been repeatedly accused of forcing employees to work long hours for low pay under stressful conditions.

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Computer conducts couple's wedding

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If computers can create friends for you, why can't they create ministers?

This was the philosophical question that inspired Miguel Hanson, a Houston-based web developer and IT consultant as he contemplated his wedding.

As the Associated Press tells it, Hanson couldn't find an associate who would officiate at the betrothal to high school teacher Diana Wesley. So he said to himself: "Wait a minute, I am a Web developer and IT consultant. I am a Master of the Universe. One minister, coming up."

The first thought you might have if you were to create a virtual Man of God might be an appropriate name. How about Father Real-Time? Or the Bishop Apple? Hanson's choice was Rev. Bit.

So, at yesterday's ceremony, Rev. Bit was to greet the 30 or so guests, tell them a few stories about the happy couple, and then lead them through their "I do"'s.

AnatOnMe: Doctor patient communication enhanced with new Microsoft device (w/ video)

(Medical Xpress) -- Microsoft researchers announced this week a new handheld device that they hope will work as an aid for doctors and patients to better communicate injuries and recommended therapy treatments. The new prototype device is called AnatOnMe and enables doctors to project an image of the bones, tendons and muscles involved in an injury directly onto the patient's skin.

AnatOnMe is composed of two parts. The main component has a handheld projector, a digital camera, and an infrared camera. The second part of the device holds a laser pointer and the main control buttons. Amy Karlson from Microsoft Research’s Computational User Experiences Group located in Redmond, Washington says that the technology is actually low-tech but could provide many possibilities in the future.

The projector is capable of projecting stock images of an injury onto a patient’s skin to better enable them to see inside and understand the injury. The camera enables a doctor to take images of a patient to document progress and allow doctors to make notations. They can also take pictures of a patient performing physical therapy and note what they might be doing wrong or need to work on. This method allows the patient to better see how their body is working and what needs to be done in order to heal from the injury.

This video is not supported by your browser at this time.

AnatOnMe is a projection-enabled mobile device designed to improve patient-doctor communication in a medical setting.

After an exam, the doctor is then able to print out the pictures and create a personalized file to show what has been discussed in the office visit for the patient to take home, as well as provide detailed information in a patient’s medical record. By making the visit and instructions more personalized, the hope is to better improve patient body awareness and communication between the doctor and the patient.

Queens University students hack Microsoft Kinect to make a 360-degree display

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(PhysOrg.com) -- It seems like lately everyone is playing around with the Microsoft Kinect to make something different than the in the box configuration. This time the modifications are coming students at Queens University. They have combined a pair of the Kinect sensors with a hacked 3D HD projector and a hemispherical mirror mounted inside of an acrylic sphere to make a pseudo holographic display.

The project, aptly dubbed Project Snowglobe, is capable of showing a 360-degree view of a digital object. While at first that may sound really cool, the display system is limited to a single user at the present moment. The system cannot project a truly 3D object at the moment. It simply tracks the movement of the viewer and rotates the image so that it is in sync with their position.

Don't expect to see this bit of creative hacking on sale any time in the near future; no plans have been made at this time.

University of Chicago's Joe and Rika Mansueto library make book retrieval a robotic affair

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(PhysOrg.com) -- Visitors to the Grand Reading Room of the Joe and Rika Mansueto library at the University of Chicago will be in for a bit of a surprise. The books are not on shelves for the reader to peruse, but stored under the building, in tightly packed in bins stacked five stories deep. This new library relies not on you navigating the stacks armed only with your knowledge of the dewy decimal system, but in knowing what you want.

The library, which is designed to accommodate modern online research, has the capacity to retrieve a requested journal and deliver it to the circulation desk. Students can then pick it up at the desk and the automated system will return it. The complete retrieval process can take as little as five minutes. The system relies on a set of computer-activated robotic cranes to do the actual retrieving and delivery. They delve into one of the five-story book storage chambers, which are located directly beneath the reading room. In each of the bins about 100 books are stored, which brings the libraries total capacity to roughly 3.5 million books.

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The Joe and Rika Mansueto Library: How It Works

The rooms are, of course, designed with ideal archival conditions in mind. The entire system is designed to thwart water. The bins are air tight, and the chamber is equipped with both a system of drains and a special outer slurry wall designed to keep water from seeping into the room.

While this $81 million may be interesting it is certainly cost prohibitive, so don't expect to see one in your town any time soon. While some laud this as the future of the library, this reporter has to wonder what will happen to research if this is the case. After all, some of the most important bits of information can be gleaned by accident. If you have ever been walking the stacks and found exactly what you needed, even when it was not on the computer generated list, then you can see how this system also has drawbacks.This video is not supported by your browser at this time.

The Joe and Rika Mansueto Library: A Construction Retrospective

More information: http://news.uchica … how-it-works

The NutriSmart system would put RFIDs into your food for enhanced information

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(PhysOrg.com) -- RFID, short for Radio Frequency ID, tags have found their way into a wide variety of applications. These pellets, which are often roughly the same size as a grain of rice, can help us to be reunited with our lost pets, keep towels inside the hotel, and keep big box stores shipping the right boxes to the right places at the right time.

In time you may even find them inside your own stomach. At least they will be there if Hannes Harms has anything to say about it. Mr. Harms, who is currently a design engineering student at the Royal College of Art in London, has designed the NutriSmart system. The system is based on edible RFID tags that will tell you more about your food then you ever wanted to know.

The system would be able to not only give you complete nutritional data on the food that you are about to consume, but able to tell you the entire supply chain behind everything that you are putting into your mouth. While this could be good news for diabetics, people with serious food allergies, and vegans, it also has applications outside of the medical.

A properly equipped refrigerator would be able to give the user a look at everything that the box contains, and when it is going to go bad.

The system can also be paired with a "Smart plate", which would allow the embedded reader in the dish to tell you about the caloric and nutrition information about what you are eating, as well as how many miles it has come to be on your plate. The data can then be sent to your cell phone, via a Bluetooth connection.

No word yet about what happens to the tags when you are finished with them.

NHK shows off a TV that watches you

Image: Techon

Most people are comfortable enough with the idea of watching TV, but how comfortable will they be with the idea of the TV watching them back?

The folks who attended Open House 2011, which ran between May 26th to the 29th, were able to see NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories demonstrate its new UTAN TV viewing interface. For those of you who are curious, UTAN stands for User Technology Assisted Navigation, and while you may at first think that description could easily be applied to a simple remote control, it is so much more.

The system begins with a camera mounted on your TV. That camera takes pictures of you while you are watching and with the help of some clever software gauges your level of interest. It does this by assessing your level of attention paid to the screen, based on your facial expression and motions.

Touch-screen steering wheel keeps drivers focused on the road

ring et al.

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of researchers from the University of Stuttgart, University of Duisburg-Essen and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence have created a prototype automotive steering wheel that uses a touch screen to enable the driver to control things such as the radio or navigate a map without having to take their eyes off the road.

With the numerous technological advances such as mobile phones and texting, the need to keep drivers focused on the road is the idea behind the development of this touch-screen steering wheel. With standard vehicle controls being behind the steering wheel or in the center console, making changes requires the driver to look away from the road. Albrecht Schmidt, a computer science professor who worked on the project believes by creating gesture-enabled steering wheel, drivers will be able to spend more time focused on the road.

The steering wheel is made out of 11 millimeter thick acrylic that is ringed with infrared LEDs. There is an infrared camera that is attached to the bottom that detects reflections when the screen is touched. Gestures can be made on the screen without the driver ever having to take their hands off the steering wheel.

To create the prototype, researchers asked participants what movements and gestures they currently used on technological devices in order to create the gestures for some 20 commands. Gestures such as pinching two fingers in order to zoom or tracing out the first letter of a command are some that have been included.

Once they had established all the different general commands and gestures, the researchers then had participants test the steering wheel in a simulator. The data from the study shows that the new prototype was able to substantially reduce the amount of time a driver needed to take his eyes off the road.

Down the road, they believe the technology could include things such as the ability to project information directly onto the windshield as well as a sensor system designed to check road conditions and traffic and alert a driver to stay focused on the road.

The prototype was presented at the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems and the researchers are currently speaking with automotive companies to look at the possibility of getting this technology into vehicles in the near future.

More information: Research papers are available here and here.

Amazon.com founder to make 10,000 year clock

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(PhysOrg.com) -- Jeff Bezos the founder of Amazon.com has embarked on an interesting and unique project that, if all goes well, will last the test of time, a whole lot of time. He is looking to create a clock that is able to run for 10,000 years.

If, at first, this sounds like a bit of a strange project you have to understand why Mr. Bezos wants to make a giant clock that will keep time long after his great-great-grandchildren are dead and gone and Amazon.com is less than a faint memory in the collective of the web.

PossessedHand: Technology group develops device to move your fingers for you

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Image: Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, The University of Tokyo

(PhysOrg.com) -- In an interesting meshing of robotics and prosthetics development, Japanese researchers from Tokyo University working in conjunction with Sony Corporation, have created an external forearm device capable of causing independent finger and wrist movement. Introduced on the Rekimoto Lab website, the PossessedHand as it’s called can be strapped to the wrist like a blood pressure cuff and fine tuned to the individual wearing it. The PossessedHand sends small doses of electricity to the muscles in the forearm that control movement, and can be "taught" to send preprogrammed signals that replicate the movements of normal wrist and finger movements, such as plucking the strings of a musical instrument.

Though the signals sent are too weak to actually cause string plucking, they are apparently strong enough to cause the user to understand which finger is supposed to be moved, thus, the device might be construed to be more of a learning device than an actual guitar accessory.

Currently devices that do roughly the same thing are done with electrodes inserted into the skin, or work via gloves worn over the hand, both rather cludgy and perhaps somewhat painful. This new approach in contrast, is said to feel more like a gentle hand massage.

Royal College of Art student make a 3D printer that focuses the light of the sun

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(PhysOrg.com) -- 3D printing has been around for a few years. If you hooked it up to a solar panel you could make it work with the sun, but still would not be as cool as doing it the way that Markus Kayser, a MA student at the Royal College of Art, has gone about it. He has create a 3D printing machine that is able to focus the rays of the sun through a glass ball with enough intensity that it can create a beam that is able to heat silica sand to its melting point. Silica sand is often used in manufacturing process of heat resistant products for its high melting point.

The device, named the Solar Sinter, is based on a previous design known as the Sun-Cutter, which was able to cut two-dimensional shapes into thin sheets of plywood. Because of the imprecision of the tool it was only able to make relatively rough cuts, and there was a great deal of variation in functionality based on changes in the cloud cover.

Porsche is developing a system for a self-driving car, no pedal pressing needed

(PhysOrg.com) -- How much of the driving experience are you willing to give up to the computer in your car? Are you OK with cruise control? Anti-lock brakes? Skid control systems? How about taking your feet off of the pedals and letting the car decide how fast you should be going at any given moment, are you OK with that idea?

The engineers at the Porsche design team are betting that at least some drivers will be OK with that idea. They are working on a new, more advanced, cruise control system, called the ACC InnoDrive that will make having you feet on the pedals a thing of the past, at least for most of the ride.

The system, which is designed with safety and fuel efficiency in mind, works like this. Over time, as you drive to the same places over and over again, you car begins to learn the route and estimates the speed limits, the curves in the road and any elevation changes over the route. It then takes this raw data and uses it to create a trip profile that will do all of the pedal work in getting your from point A to point B. All you have to do is put your hands on the wheel and steer the car.

The only question now is how does the car know when the light ahead of you is red?

The system is currently in its prototype stages. The system's hardware is currently installed in a Porsche Panamera S. The system does have an off mode for user who prefers to driver his or her own cars.

More information:
via Autoblog

Bionic glasses for poor vision

A set of glasses packed with technology normally seen in smartphones and games consoles is the main draw at one of the featured stands at this year’s Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition.

But the exhibit isn’t about the latest gadget must-have, it’s all about aiding those with poor vision and giving them greater independence.

‘We want to be able to enhance vision in those who’ve lost it or who have little left or almost none,’ explains Dr Stephen Hicks of the Department of Clinical Neurology at Oxford University. ‘The glasses should allow people to be more independent – finding their own directions and signposts, and spotting warning signals,’ he says.

Technology developed for mobile phones and computer gaming – such as video cameras, position detectors, face recognition and tracking software, and depth sensors – is now readily and cheaply available. So Oxford researchers have been looking at ways that this technology can be combined into a normal-looking pair of glasses to help those who might have just a small area of vision left, have cloudy or blurry vision, or can’t process detailed images.

The glasses should be appropriate for common types of visual impairment such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. NHS Choices estimates around 30% of people who are over 75 have early signs of age-related macular degeneration, and about 7% have more advanced forms.

‘The types of poor vision we are talking about are where you might be able to see your own hand moving in front of you, but you can’t define the fingers,’ explains Stephen.

The glasses have video cameras mounted at the corners to capture what the wearer is looking at, while a display of tiny lights embedded in the see-through lenses of the glasses feed back extra information about objects, people or obstacles in view.

In between, a smartphone-type computer running in your pocket recognises objects in the video image or tracks where a person is, driving the lights in the display in real time.

The extra information the glasses display about their surroundings should allow people to navigate round a room, pick out the most relevant things and locate objects placed nearby.

‘The glasses must look discrete, allow eye contact between people and present a simplified image to people with poor vision, to help them maintain independence in life,’ says Stephen. These guiding principles are important for coming up with an aid that is acceptable for people to wear in public, with eye contact being so important in social relationships, he explains.

The see-through display means other people can see you, while different light colours might allow different types of information to be fed back to the wearer, Stephen says. You could have different colours for people, or important objects, and brightness could tell you how near things were.

Stephen even suggests it may be possible for the technology to read back newspaper headlines. He says something called optical character recognition is coming on, so it possible to foresee a computer distinguishing headlines from a video image then have these read back to the wearer through earphones coming with the glasses. A whole stream of such ideas and uses are possible, he suggests. There are barcode readers in some mobile phones that download the prices of products; such barcode and price tag readers could also be useful additions to the glasses.

Stephen believes these hi-tech glasses can be realised for similar costs as smartphones – around £500. For comparison, a guide dog costs around £25-30,000 to train, he estimates.

He adds that people will have to get used to the extra information relayed on the glasses’ display, but that it might be similar to physiotherapy – the glasses will need to be tailored for individuals, their vision and their needs, and it will take a bit of time and practise to start seeing the benefits.

The exhibit at the Royal Society will take visitors through how the technology will work. ‘The primary aim is to simulate the experience of a visual prosthetic to give people an idea of what can be seen and how it might look,’ Stephen says.

A giant screen with video images of the exhibition floor itself will show people-tracking and depth perception at work. Another screen will invite visitors to see how good they are at navigating with this information. A small display added to the lenses of ski goggles should give people sufficient information to find their way round a set of tasks. An early prototype of a transparent LED array for the eventual glasses will also be on display.

All of this is very much at an early stage. The group is still assembling prototypes of their glasses. But as well as being one of the featured stands at the Royal Society’s exhibition, they have funding from the National Institute of Health Research to do a year-long feasibility study and plan to try out early systems with a few people in their own homes later this year.

Provided by Oxford University (news : web)

Grocery store chain mixes high and low tech to increase sales

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(PhysOrg.com) -- In a marketing strategy that can only be described as brilliant; brilliant enough to win the Media Grand Prix award at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, advertising agency Cheil Worldwide Seoul, conceived the idea of taking life size photographs of a clients grocery store items, pasting them on subway walls to make them look like grocery store shelves, and then allowing prospective shoppers to shop via snapping Quick Response (QR) codes with their cell phones, while waiting for their train.

The client, Tesco’s, Home Plus, in South Korea, the second largest grocer in the country, found that after covering the walls of a single subway station with sharp clear pictures of their goods, their online sales increased 130%.

The whole thing works using existing technology. First photographs are taken of entire grocery store sections; the photographs are then blown up to life-size renditions; then QR codes are applied. Next the photographs or billboards are pasted to the plastic back-lit wall sections already in place in a subway station. Home Plus members then simply walk up to a billboard and snap a picture of the QR code with their smart phone, which automatically adds the item to the customer’s virtual grocery cart. When finished shopping, the customer pays at the virtual checkout counter. The purchased items are then delivered directly to the customer’s home at the end of the work day, thus relieving them of having to stop for something on the way.

The idea merges QR code technology, which has been in use for several years, chiefly as a means to allow customers to redeem virtual coupons, with online grocery shopping, which has been around for some fifteen years, taking what must assuredly be, a first step into a truly innovative marketing strategy.

This video is not supported by your browser at this time.

The current system is part of a three month advertising campaign, one which resulted in a 76% increase in registered members, and was meant to trim the lead rival E-Mart holds in the marketplace. No doubt the system will be expanded to full time if the increase in sales carries past the cost of placing the enormous billboards in the subway stations.

If the strategy continues to pay off, it’s likely the same approach will be adopted by other vendors around the world and applied in a myriad of ways to entice buyers into buying goods wherever they may happen to be, standing, sitting or waiting.

Toyota's new pre-crash technology directs steering

QR code Toyota is developing a safety technology that takes control of the steering so the vehicle can veer away when it isn't able to stop before impact.

Toyota Motor Corp. showed some of its up and coming safety innovations in a demonstration to reporters Thursday at its facility in this town, west of Tokyo, near Mount Fuji.

All the world's automakers are working on special safety technology in an effort to woo customers, as competition intensifies among manufacturers already neck-and-neck in delivering the regular features for their products.

Cars that stop or slow down automatically before an object or person in anticipation of a possible crash are not new. But Toyota's latest pre-collision system adds a steering-control feature.

In the new system, Toyota uses cameras and a super sensitive radar called "millimeter-wave," both installed in the front of the vehicle, to detect possible crashes such as a pedestrian crossing the road.

The vehicle calculates how braking and steering must be applied to avoid a crash, said chief safety technology officer Moritaka Yoshida.

"We must learn from accidents and keep making improvements in safety features," he said.

The Japanese automaker declined to say when the feature may be offered on a commercial model, or in which markets, but officials hinted it was ready to be offered soon.

Toyota said it was aiming for zero fatalities and injuries, although it did not say when that goal would be achieved.

Fatalities have been declining in auto accidents, because of better safety features, but deaths among pedestrians in traffic accidents have not gone down in Japan.

Protecting pedestrians is increasingly key, according to Toyota, which makes the Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury models.

Toyota showed what is called a pop-up hood, which rises slightly in a crash, to mitigate the impact of a pedestrian getting hit by a car, similar to features offered by European makers.

It also showed how parts of the rays from high-beam headlights could be blocked so that drivers could still see clearly what was ahead while headlights would appear to be on low beam to the driver in a car coming from the other direction.

Toyota also showed a steering wheel in development that measures the heartbeat of the driver to prevent crashes that can happen when drivers suffer heart attacks.

Apple approves new store-less iPad Nook app

The new Nook app for iPad adds some functionality as it loses links to the Nookbook store.

(Credit:Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET)

After removing its Nook app foriPad from Apple's App Store for a few days, Barnes & Noble's now has new, updated iPad app available for download. The new app complies with Apple's new in-app subscription rules and has no links to Barnes & Noble's e-bookstore or website.

Related links
• Apple forces Amazon to alter Kindle app
• Kobo creating HTML5 Web app to buffer Apple

As part of the update, Barnes & Noble has added some functionality. The new app allows you to sync your Nook digital magazine or newspaper subscriptions, essentially duplicating features already available on the Nook Color.

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Road Trip Pic of the Day, 7/30: What is this?

If you know what this is and where it is located, you could be eligible to win a prize in the CNET Road Trip Picture of the Day contest.

(Credit:Daniel Terdiman/CNET)

Update (Sunday, 1:00 a.m. PDT): The answer to Saturday's challenge--which three people got--is Michelin's former tire testing track located in Clermont-Ferrand, France. Thanks to those who played, and to everyone, please come back for Sunday's challenge. lso, please note that the final round of the Road Trip Picture of the Day contest prior to the selection of the grand prize winner will be August 7.

Welcome to the Road Trip Picture of the Day contest. This is your chance to win some cool prizes as you test your skills at recognizing pictures.

Each day, I'll be posting a new photograph from my various travels, and your job is to try to correctly identify it using any means at your disposal. Throughout Road Trip 2011, which will take me to a number of countries in Western Europe, there will be a new challenge each day, and the opportunity to win some great prizes.

Now, on to today's challenge.

If you know what this is and where it's located, please send me an e-mail with both pieces of information (to daniel

World's first 'printed' plane snaps together and flies

The SULSA began life in something like an inkjet and wound up in the air.

(Credit:University of Southhampton)

English engineers have produced what is believed to be the world's first printed plane. I'm not talking a nice artsy lithograph of the Wright Bros. first flight. This is a complete, flyable aircraft spit out of a 3D printer.

The SULSA (Southampton University Laser Sintered Aircraft) is an unmanned air vehicle that emerged, layer by layer, from a nylon laser sintering machine that can fabricate plastic or metal objects. In the case of the SULSA, the wings, access hatches, and the rest of the structure of the plane were all printed.

As if that weren't awesome enough, the entire thing snaps together in minutes, no tools or fasteners required. The electric plane has a wingspan of just under 7 feet and a top speed of 100 mph.

Jim Scanlon, one of the project leads at the University of Southhampton, explains in a statement that the technology allows for products to go from conception to reality much quicker and more cheaply.

"The flexibility of the laser-sintering process allows the design team to revisit historical techniques and ideas that would have been prohibitively expensive using conventional manufacturing," Scanlon says. "One of these ideas involves the use of a Geodetic structure... This form of structure is very stiff and lightweight, but very complex. If it was manufactured conventionally it would require a large number of individually tailored parts that would have to be bonded or fastened at great expense."

So apparently when it comes to 3D printing, the sky is no longer the limit. Let's just make sure someone double-checks the toner levels before we start printing the next international space station.

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A beginner's guide to telecom jargon, part 3

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The mobile world moves at a breakneck pace, and it's difficult to keep up--even without the technical jargon most industry insiders throw around. And they do love to toss those terms about.

Last week, I dabbled in Wall Street-speak after AT&T and Verizon Communications reported their quarterly financial results. But today, I wanted to get back into some of the more technical (read: geekier) aspects of the industry.

So for some light reading, here are a few terms telecom experts throw around with the assumption that everyone understands them.

Road Trip Pic of the Day, 7/31: What is this?

If you know what this is and where it is located, you could be eligible to win a prize in the CNET Road Trip Picture of the Day contest.

(Credit:Daniel Terdiman/CNET)

Update (Monday, 3:11 a.m. PDT): The answer to Sunday's challenge--which 83 people got--is La Fresque La Fresque des Lyonnais, a trompe l'oeil mural of famous people from Lyon, France. The pictured was focused on Antoine de Saint-Exupery and his creation 'Le Petit Prince.' Sunday's challenge also completed the ninth week of the contest, and one person who submitted a correct answer this week has won a prize. Altogether, I got 704 correct submissions this week. The sweepstakes will now reset, and I will choose a tenth and final winner after next Sunday's challenge, which will be the final one of Road Trip 2011. Thanks to everyone who played this week, and please come back for this week's challenges.

Welcome to the Road Trip Picture of the Day contest. This is your chance to win some cool prizes as you test your skills at recognizing pictures.

Each day, I'll be posting a new photograph from my various travels, and your job is to try to correctly identify it using any means at your disposal. Throughout Road Trip 2011, which will take me to a number of countries in Western Europe, there will be a new challenge each day, and the opportunity to win some great prizes.

Now, on to today's challenge.

If you know what this is and where it's located, please send me an e-mail with both pieces of information (to daniel

Time Warner CEO: Web porn eating our profits

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Cable companies have long since been adept at profiting from man's weakness.

They charge people for movies, knowing that so many families have little time to head out to movie theaters.

They would also charge heavily for porn movies, knowing that, late at night, some people struggle to get to sleep.

I am sure, therefore, that you will shed a long, drippy tear for Time Warner. According to AllThingsD, the company is feeling the pain of making far less money out of all things kinky.

You might take some illicit pleasure from groaning words emerging out of the luscious lips of Time Warner CEO Glenn Britt.

He told AllThingsD: "One of the things going on with VOD is that there's been fairly steady trends over some time period now for adult to go down, largely because there's that kind of material available on the Internet for free. And that's pretty high margin. That's been not just this quarter, but going on for some time period."

Hulu accused of infringing on program guide patents

Hulu got more bad news late last week in the form of a patent infringement lawsuit.

Rovi Technologies, a provider of digital home-entertainment products, accused the online video service of infringing on three of its patents related to online TV program guides and search products in a lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court of Delaware. Rovi, which was formed after Macrovision's acquisition of Gemstar-TV Guide International in 2008, seeks compensation for the alleged infringement as well as attorneys' costs and related fees.

Rovi, which licenses its patents to Apple, Microsoft, Comcast, and DirecTV, said in the lawsuit it initiated discussions with Hulu regarding the patents in 2008 but has been unable to sign Hulu to a patent license.

"Hulu's infringement presents significant and ongoing damages to Rovi's business," the company said in the filing.

Hulu representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The filing comes just two days after Fox Network announced it would begin delaying Web access to many of its popular TV shows from sites such as Hulu to give cable and satellite TV providers greater exclusivity with programming. Fox's de facto pay wall means that fans used to seeing their favorite Fox programs online the day after they air on the network will now have to wait eight days to see episodes of "The Simpsons," "Bones," and "Glee."

Earlier this year Hulu put itself up for sale. Hulu, which is owned jointly by Fox parent News Corp., Walt Disney, Comcast, and equity firm Providence Equity Partners, has reportedly garnered interest from a slew of companies, including Apple, Google, Amazon, and Yahoo.

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Huawei 'puzzled' at InterDigital patent complaint

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Huawei Technologies said today it is "a little bit puzzled" by allegations that it was illegally using InterDigital's wireless patents.

Symform offers 100GB cloud storage for free, kind of

Symform, a once business-oriented cloud storage provider, announced today that it is giving general consumers 100GB of online storage for free. Considering the fact that most other online storage services offer just 2GB or 3GB for free, this seems like a great deal.

However, as there's no such thing as a free lunch, this huge amount of online storage comes with a possibly even larger catch. In order to get the "free" online storage, you must contribute 150GB of your local storage on a device that's always on in a broadband-connected home network.

This is because Symform, as it claims, is the first company to break away from the traditional data center cloud storage model. Instead it uses a technology called RAID-96 to geographically distribute, encrypt, and store its data.

In layman's terms, this means data stored via Symform's service is divided and replicated into 96 pieces that are distributed to 96 different participating computers over the Internet. In addition to providing redundancy, the company says that this allows for uploads and downloads up to 50 times faster than you get using a centralized data center. According to Symform, data distributed and stored on participating computers is encrypted and therefore can't be accessed by local users but only those who have the authorization.

The idea of trading local storage for online storage is not new and has been offered by Wuala for a long time. While this is cool, it's definitely not free. Especially when you have to trade 150GB of local storage for just 100GB of online storage. On top of the giving up local storage, users will also have to contribute in terms of equipment, electricity, and the broadband connection, which may come with a monthly data cap.

For those who need a large amount of online storage and can live with the drawbacks, however, Symform's offering is available here.

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Gmail posts 'intervention' tool to wrangle non-users

Google's not exactly hurting when it comes to the number of people using its Gmail Web e-mail service, though in a new marketing move it's trying to grow that pot to catch up to Yahoo and Microsoft.

The company today rolled out a cheeky new "email intervention" program, offering existing Gmail users with a way to nudge their friends to switch over from their existing provider.

"You've probably already improved the lives of your friends and family members by helping them switch to Gmail, but what about that one friend who still hasn't made the switch?" the site reads. "It's time to take a stand and stage an intervention."

What that amounts to is one of three specialized form e-mails that existing Gmail users can pick from and send to friends that includes a prepared "intervention video" that pitches the service. Users can also record their own personalized message that uses YouTube.

Reports: Tea Party leader arrested on piracy charges

A cached version of the Grand Strand Tea Party home page. The site was inaccessible today.

A leader of a South Carolina Tea Party group has been arrested for allegedly selling pirated software, according to reports.

Anthony Trinca, 61, is accused of selling versions ofMicrosoft Office, Windows, Adobe Photoshop, and Rosetta Stone language programs that were counterfeit, news site TG Daily reported today, one of several outlets to write about it. Trinca, president of the Grand Strand Tea Party, was arrested after someone to whom he allegedly sold software resold some of it and refused to give a refund when a buyer insisted it was pirated, the report said.

He and his 23-year-old son, Michael, were both charged with unauthorized use or trafficking in counterfeit trademarks and were released on $50,000 bond, according to the report.

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Universities to bring 1Gbps broadband to local communities

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A group of 29 universities in the U.S. is banding together to bring ultra-high-speed broadband access to the communities surrounding their campuses in an effort to attract start-ups and spur innovation.

The project, called Gig.U, was announced today and aims to build world-class broadband infrastructure to attract high-tech start-ups to areas close to universities. Some of the sectors the project directors hope to target are health care, energy, and telecommunications.

Several of the universities participating in the program, including Arizona State University, Duke University, and University of Michigan, are not in a major metropolitan areas. And others, such as Howard University, University of Chicago, Case Western Reserve, and George Mason University, are in or are close to major cities. But most of the universities involved in the project are not in regions that are considered hotbeds of innovation for technology start-ups.

The hope is that the new infrastructure, which will provide broadband speeds up to 1Gbps to individuals and businesses, will create a hub where cutting-edge start-ups and other businesses will flock to be closer to university researchers and a pool of talented students and graduates.

The project itself is still in the early days, and details about funding haven't been hammered out yet. But Blair Levin, a fellow at the Aspen Institute who is heading up the project, told the New York Times, that the group is not looking for government funding to build the network. Instead, Gig.U participants are reaching out to broadband companies and other private investors to partner on building the infrastructure.

"The idea is that current and existing providers would fund the networks," Levin said in an e-mail to CNET. "But that universities and communities could explore ways to improve the business case by lowering capital cost and improving demand."

Levin said that he has talked to all the major broadband providers and they are intrigued by the notion of a discrete market, such as the ones that the Gig.U networks would produce. But so far no broadband providers have offered firm commitments to participating or offering funding. That said, Levin emphasized that the participating universities will be targeting specific businesses and industries and will in effect create demand for the high speed networks.

The Gig.U project is similar to a network that Google is building. Earlier this year, Google said it would choose a few cities around the country to test new 1Gbps networks. In March, it announced Kansas City, Kansas, as the first city to get the 1Gbps test-network.

Google's goal in building these ultra-fast broadband test-beds is to deliver more than 100 times the speed of broadband connection to communities and allow entrepreneurs and businesses to figure out what to do with all the bandwidth.

"High-speed Internet access must be much more widely available," Eric Schmidt, Google's chairman, said at the time. "Broadband is a major driver of new jobs and businesses, yet we rank only 15th in the world for access. More government support for broadband remains critical."

Levin said that the goal of Google's project and the Gig.U project are similar, which is to accelerate the deployment of next-generation networks. Prior to coming to the Aspen Institute, Levin worked at the FCC and was in charge of developing the agency's National Broadband Plan. This plan calls on the extending broadband to every American and it promises to offer 100 Mbps broadband to 100 million people by 2020.

The Gig.U and Google plans could help make these plans a reality, as researchers and entrepreneurs develop applications to use more bandwidth.

"What we don't know is how many great ideas and revolutionary products wait to see the light of day while network bandwidth and computer resources play catch up," Hugh Hallman, mayor of Tempe, Ariz., where Arizona State University is located, said in a statement. "It is for this reason that the city of Tempe is partnering with Arizona State University and other leading research universities intent on accelerating the deployment of ultra-high speed data networks."

But Levin added that even the goal of the Gig.U and Google projects is similar, the strategy for achieving the goals is different. The Gig.U initiative focuses exclusively on bringing high bandwidth to university communities, where Levin said there is demand for high speed Net access even outside the walls of the universities.

Most major universities already have access to cutting edge Internet technology and many are involved in research and development networks such as Internet 2, which is used to connect universities throughout the world to share data and also test new Internet technologies. But Gig.U is about extending the high speed Internet access outside the university to the private sector.

Elias Eldaryrie, chief information officer for the University of Florida in Gainsville, Fla., said that its important for the businesses in the community to have access to the same type of network resources that the universities have.

"In order for research universities and communities to grow and prosper together, we need access to the same technology," he said. "Ultra-high-speed broadband is the new baseline; it's where U.F. and Gainesville need to be so that we can compete together with the best the world has to offer."

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Juno spacecraft poised for five-year voyage to Jupiter

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NASA's solar-powered Juno spacecraft, the centerpiece of a $1.1 billion mission to Jupiter, was mounted atop an Atlas 5 rocket today, setting the stage for launch August 5 on a five-year voyage to the solar system's largest planet.

Once in orbit around Jupiter's poles, Juno's instruments will precisely map the planet's gravitational and magnetic fields, probe its turbulent atmosphere and hidden interior and study the mechanisms responsible for its powerhouse auroras, the strongest in the solar system.

"Jupiter probably formed first, it's the largest of all the planets, in fact it's got more material in it than all the rest of the solar system combined," Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, told reporters today. "If I took everything in the solar system (except the sun), it could all fit inside Jupiter.

"So after the sun formed,

Water-walking robot takes cue from insects

(Credit:American Chemical Society)

While some people who idolize robots might say the machines walk on water, a new microbot out of China actually does.

The robot was built to imitate the capabilities of water-striding insects such as mosquitoes and water spiders, which can walk and even jump on water without drowning thanks to their highly water-repellent legs. The robot is about 6 inches long and uses 10 water-repellent supporting wire legs and 2 movable, oar-like legs propelled by two mini motors to maneuver like a real water strider. It also looks great in a caterpillar Speedo.

While the new microrobot weighs as much as about 390 water striders, it's still able to walk (at a speed of about 6 inches per second), stand, and turn freely on water surfaces without sinking. The scientists say the radius and contact angle of the legs mainly accounts for the large supporting force.

The water-loving bot, which is detailed in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, isn't the first robot to mimic insects, nor is it the first aquatic robot to do so.

However, the scientists say the motion of a water strider-like microrobot on the water's surface had rarely been studied and their work yields valuable insights into making a bot that's speedy, agile, and inexpensive enough to fabricate that it could potentially have broad applications in water quality surveillance, water pollution monitoring, and the like.

To make the biomimetic bot, which weighs 3.88 grams (less than a quarter of an ounce), the researchers from the Harbin Institute of Technology's School of Chemical Engineering and Technology carefully analyzed water striders' locomotion to better understand exactly how the creatures get around the local pond. (For way more technical details on factors like the maximal vertical depth of water striders' legs and the volume of the resulting "water dimples," visit this PDF on the research

Automated stock trading poses fraud risk, researcher says

James Arlen, principal at Push the Stack Consulting, warns about security risks with automated and high-frequency trading.

(Credit:Sprogsta)

An emphasis on speed and a lack of security makes automated trading in financial markets ripe for exploitation and fraud, a security researcher warned today.

Most stock trades in the U.S. and many around the world in general are now made by data-crunching computers that buy and sell stocks in microseconds--something that used to take human traders minutes to do. With these algorithm-based, high-frequency trades a fraction of second can be worth millions of dollars for an investor. (See CBS 60 Minutes report on this.)

In the push for greater speed and thus higher profits, security is sacrificed, James Arlen, principal at Push the Stack Consulting, told CNET in a preview of a presentation he will give at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas next week titled "Security When Nano Seconds Count."

Basically, traders are using automation to speed the analysis of information on stocks and do more trades faster.

"In this race toward faster we've gone from human time scale, trading decisions in hours or minutes to milliseconds, or thousands of a second...Now we're talking about microseconds, a millionth of a second, and nanoseconds, one-thousandth of a microsecond," he said. "We're compressing the markets, pulling them closer together, and putting in custom hardware that does things like skip the operating system. The application making the decisions is actually building an Ethernet frame in its own memory and then pushing that frame down into the wire side of the networking card."

The implementations are built for speed and not for security, which slows down functions, according to Arlen. Traders are choosing the stripped down and fast sportscar over the sedan with air bags and other security measures, he added. "We've left security behind. These implementations have no security at all," he said.

The potential for problems isn't purely theoretical--automated trading was found to have contributed to a market crash in the U.S. in May 2010 in which the Dow Jones dropped 600 points, the second-largest point swing in one day.

What if someone were able to create an unfair market advantage by introducing some latency in a competitor's system? "Are you ever really going to notice?" Arlen wondered. "This can be a very nefarious, very small game."

The complexity of the trades, often based on multiple consecutive transactions and leveraging the price differences on different markets with simultaneous trades, amplifies the potential for problems and makes oversight more difficult, he added.

"It's highly likely or statistically likely that someone is abusing a market somewhere in the world. Will they be caught at any time in the short term? Probably not," he said. "That level of complexity makes it really hard to point a finger. This is going to be hard to find in the real world."

Arlen said he doesn't have a solution. He just wants to get the industry talking about the problem so something can be done to prevent problems. His timing couldn't be better.

The so-called "Flash Crash" of May 2010 has spurred the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to action. It voted unanimously yesterday to adopt a rule requiring large traders like banks and hedge funds to identify themselves and to maintain transactions records.

"May 6 dramatically demonstrated the need to enhance the SEC's ability to quickly and accurately analyze market events. The large trader reporting rule will significantly bolster our ability to oversee the U.S. securities markets in a time when trades can be transacted in milliseconds or faster," said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro in a statement. "This new rule will enable us to promptly and efficiently identify significant market participants and collect data on their trading activity so that we can reconstruct market events, conduct investigations, and bring enforcement actions as appropriate."

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