Recently in Technology and Science Category

Internet Titans Amazon, Google, Yahoo, eBay, and IAX/InterActiveCorp joined together in writing a letter to Congressional Senators expressing their concerns about net neutrality. This is a clash of the titans for sure. Congress and the telecom/cable lobbyists on one side and large Internet behemoths on the other. Of course, a letter is a bit weak. The Internet titans need to pull out all the stops. Like cut the Senators access to Google.com, Yahoo! and eBay. When they can't get their fix of Googling, Yahoo Mail, or eBay auctions they'll change their minds. Yup, no doubt about it. If that doesn't work, just capture Pegasus in the swamp, fly to Washington, D.C. , put on your invisibility helmet, walk past security - no need to slap any officers (ala Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney) - go straight into Congress's chambers, and using your impregnable sword given to you by Zeus, decapitate any net neutrality opponents. Ok, maybe not decapitate them, but give them a really good scare. Maybe wave the sword around making it appear to be floating by a supernatural force. Then pretend to be God and say "I am against blocking net neutrality. Do not anger me. Pass a net neutrality law..."

I'm just kidding.

Anyway, here's the letter:

Dear Senator,

We write to express our deep concern with the Advanced Telecommunications and Opportunity Reform Act, S. 2686. We ask you to insist that this legislation include meaningful and enforceable network neutrality provisions before it is considered by the full Senate.

The Internet has been an engine of economic growth and a vibrant platform for innovation and competition because of its open architecture. However, this open structure did not happen by accident; in fact, it is the product of non-discrimination rules that had long been in place to prevent network operators from limiting consumer choice.

Last summer, the Federal Communications Commission removed these protections. It is critical that Congress reinstate them in this bill and preserve consumer choice. The strong network neutrality amendment introduced by Senators Snowe and Dorgan would have done just that, but it was narrowly defeated in Committee on a bi-partisan 11 to 11 vote.

We fully support the goal of advancing competition in video services through franchise reform. But, as the telecommunications carriers increasingly use the broadband infrastructure to deliver their own video products, the only way to ensure that consumers will have real choice for video services is for Congress to re-establish meaningful network neutrality rules.

Without network neutrality, consumers will be restricted to online offerings limited by cable and telephone companies. For the first time, those companies - rather than consumers - will effectively become the gatekeepers to the Internet. Absent strong network neutrality provisions, consumers will no longer have the freedom to choose content from thousands of sources on an open Internet.Instead, the Internet will move backwards significantly with fewer options and limited choices.We ask that you protect their freedom.

We stand ready to work with you and your Senate colleagues to include meaningful network neutrality provisions in any national video franchising reform legislation considered in the 109th session.

Sincerely,

Amazon.com
eBay
Google
IAC/InterActiveCorp
Yahoo!

Wired News reports on BMW working on technology that will allow cars to park themselves in cramped quarters, such as your garage. Unfortunately, you have to setup the area you want it to park by placing a reflective lens against the wall at the front end of the parking space, so it won't turn the steering wheel or parallel park for you. Essentially, the YouTube video shows the car automatically pulling in its side mirrors and then pulling itself straight into the garage. Kinda lame if you ask me, considering there is automobile technology going back to at least 2003 demonstrating cars with computers that can automatically parallel park in public.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you're into gadgets (and who isn't?), then a trip to the Robot Hall of Fame might made an interesting summer trip ... (Look, we now offer travel planning!)

I liked the way PC Magazine covered this news announcement about the recent inducation ceremony in Pittsburgh:

Baseball has one, as does rock and roll. But perhaps only the robotics industry has a Hall of Fame that inducts imaginary members. The hall's third annual induction ceremony honored two real and three imagined robots, all of which ... capped the two-day Robo Business event.

Founded three years ago by Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) West's Dean James H. Morris, the Hall recognized:

• The art-deco female robot Maria of Fritz Lang's 1926 film Metropolis
• Daniel, the central android boy character from Steven Spielberg's AI"(portrayed by Haley Joel Osment)
• Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still
• Sony's discontinued AIBO robot pup see photo above)
• The SCARA industrial assembly robot arm

Judges included Matt Mason, director of CMU's Robotics Institute, 2001 Space Odyssey author Arthur C. Clarke, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and The Sims creator Will Wright. Actor Anthony Daniels, best known for his portrayal of C3PO in all six of George Lucas's Star Wars films, served as master of ceremonies. (C3PO was inducted into the Hall in 2004.)

There's a lot interesting comments about robots and the award winners in particular in the full article -- if you're a gadget fan, you may be a robot fan, too (www.pcmag.com).

Interested to hear your thoughts about the most recent inductees ...

Anybody actually been to the place?

Would there be gadgets without robots?

www.robothalloffame.org

Researchers at IBM and the Georgia Institute of Technology recently announced that they have broken the speed record for silicon-based chips with a semiconductor that operates 250 times faster than chips commonly used today. (New York Times reports.)

(No, not the chips on the left.)

The achievement has been called a major step in the evolution of computer semiconductor technology that could eventually lead to faster networks and more powerful electronics at lower prices. Developments typically find their way into commercial products in 12 to 24 months.

The researchers, using a cryogenic test station, achieved the speed milestone by "freezing" the chip to 451 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, using liquid helium. That temperature, normally found only in outer space, is just nine degrees above absolute zero, or the temperature at which all movement is thought to cease.

Dan Olds, a principal at the Gabriel Consulting Group, a technology consulting firm in Portland, OR, said the development was significant because it showed that the chip industry had not yet reached its upper limits.

The research group included students from Georgia Tech and Korea University in South Korea as well as researchers from IBM Microelectronics.

The results are reported in this month's issue of the IEEE Electron Device Letters. (Sure everyone is familiar with that pub ...)

www.nytimes.com

I looked at a hybrid-electric SUV several months ago, but decided it wasn't worth the premium you pay and got a Jeep Grand Cherokee instead. I also considered electric cars such as the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight (right), but they are just butt-ugly. In fact, most electric cars are plain ugly with the worst design imaginable. Only a tree-hugger hippie blinded by the environmental benefits of these cars, could love some of these electric car designs. Seriously...

That's why I was surprised to learn that Tesla Motors, a San Carlos start-up, seeks to design a sexier electric car that appeals to environmentally conscious buyers hankering for something cooler -- a little more like a Ferrari. Martin Eberhard, co-founder of Tesla, put it best when he said, "I couldn't find a car that was nice enough to enjoy driving, and which also got reasonable gas mileage,'' said the Woodside resident. The Prius is terrifically ugly."

He and his company are working on a sporty electric car and pledges it will be in the same class as Vipers, Ferraris, Lamborghinis and other fast cars - at least when it comes to performance numbers such as 0-to-60-mph acceleration times, cornering, etc.

You mean to tell me that my V10, gas-guzzling 8.0L Dodge Viper will be beaten by an electric car? Say it ain't so, Joe! Well, actually they do make an electric car for the Viper. Here's a picture of it.



Of course this is a radio-controller Viper.

I do believe that electric motors can eventually accelerate as fast as gas engines, in fact electric motors provide a more 'even' torque curve, but I am highly skeptical about cornering. You need a lot of heavy batteries in electric cars if you want good mileage. This will obviously affect cornering since generally the batteries are all located in the front. They could locate the batteries in the center of the car - similar to a mid-engine vehicle. Though they'd have to put some serious shielding to prevent battery acid from getting on the driver in the event of a major accident.

Alternatively, perhaps they are somehow able to mold the batteries and battery acid around the shell of the car to evenly distribute the weight. Though that could be dangerous, since if you get in a minor fender bender, you could leak battery acid. Guess we will have to wait and see how they evenly distribute the weight of the batteries for good cornering.

Love or hate Microsoft, there's no doubt about that it's always interesting to hear what Bill Gates has to say about the future or technology and science. You may not agree with him, but he does have way of shaping what all of us are doing -- and how we do it.

Here's an excerpt from his recent speech at the Microsoft CEO Summit in Redmond, WA (for the complete speech, visit his personal home page at http://www.microsoft.com/billgates/default.asp):

The theme of this year's CEO Summit is "The Next 10 Years." So where will we be 10 years from now? As I said back in 1997, there's a tendency to overestimate how much things will change in two years and underestimate how much change will occur over 10 years. But I think there are some things we can say with a reasonable degree of certainty.

During the next 10 years, networks will get faster, computer processing will continue to increase in accordance with Moore's Law, and data storage will continue to fall in price. Meanwhile, high-definition screens will be cheaper, lighter and more portable. Mobile phones will rival today's desktop PCs for power and storage. Most important, the software that ties it all together will become increasingly sophisticated in its ability to understand the way you work, and increasingly streamlined and intuitive in the ways you use it.

During the next 10 years, the idea of "search" will give way to a notion of seamless access to knowledge as people begin to utilize tools that let them interact with their computers using plain English—or plain Spanish, French, Chinese or Russian—to instantly link to the information or people they need. In this New World of Work, repetitive, uninteresting tasks like moving data from one system to another will be automated and employees will focus much more of their time and creative energy on work that generates real value and growth.

In 1997, the theme of CEO Summit was "Corporate Transformation for Friction Free Capitalism." Today, in a world where we have access to virtually unlimited information at our fingertips, global supply chains, international markets that operate 24 hours a day and communication tools that enable us to move data around the world instantly have brought us a lot closer to a world of friction free-capitalism than many people thought possible back then.

As we look ahead to the next 10 years and the promise of the New World of Work, I believe we are on the verge of an idea that is even more powerful: the age of friction-free innovation.

 Should be an interesting decade ...

 

Great article in USA Today earlier this week about how a potent combination of computer companies, tech entrepreneurs and philanthropic folk are working together to bring the digital age to the Third World (and the rest of the world).

Here's an excerpt from Kevin Maney's article:

It's a mini-movement. There's former Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab chief Nicholas Negroponte with his $100 laptops [that's one in the photo], funded in part by Google. There's chipmaker AMD with its 50x15 program — funding projects that can get 50% of the world's population on the Internet by 2015. There's Intel, trying to keep up with feisty rival AMD, announcing in early May that it will invest $1 billion to make technology for people in developing nations.

Click here to read the full article -- required reading!

The Skype-compatible RTX LAN Cordless DUALphone, which I recently reviewed, has announced support for the Global IP Sound (GIPS) NetEQ technology embedded into their wireless Internet DECT phone. GIPS NetEQ is an advanced jitter buffer and packet loss concealment module that improves sound quality and reduces latency.

Palm's Treo 700p, the heavily anticipated successor to the popular Palm Treo 650, launched on Monday. Speculation and rumors has surrounded the Palm Treo 700p as far as which features it would and would not support. For instance, speculation was running rampant as far as whether Sprint or Verizon would be the exclusive carrier or if both would support it. Let me put one bit of speculation to rest - both Sprint and Verizon will carry the Treo 700p. I spoke with Palm on a conference call on May 9th to learn about the specs and features of the Palm Treo 700p. I plan on acquiring a Palm Treo 700p for a full-fledged review, so this is mini-review analyzing the features Palm told me about, along with some photos I acquired.

The Treo 700p runs on the Palm operating system unlike its sister the Palm Treo 700w which runs on Windows Mobille 5. This is music to the ears of Palm-based Treo loyalists that were dreading having to switch to the Treo's Windows Mobile version (700w). The Windows-based Palm 700w is already out, making the wait for the Palm-based Treo fans excruciatingly long. While the wait is over, one highly anticipated feature was not included, namely GSM support, the prevalent standard used by most countries except the U.S.  Fear not Treo fans - when asked about GSM support in the future, Palm replied "So the answer to that question is we don't talk about future products. [nervous laughter]" They didn't outright deny they were working on it, so there is still hope, but GSM users will have to wait..

What the Treo 700p does support is EvDO, a standard that supports from 400Kbps-700Kbps data transfer speeds and the Treo 700p is backwards compatible with 1xRTT. Of course Sprint is still mostly on CDMA2000 1xRTT which has a maximum speed of only 144Kbps. Sprint is migrating to EvDO and they have some coverage, but not nearly as widespread as Verizon's coverage at the moment.

Update: A reader points out that Sprint leads Verizon in EvDO coverage 113 Sprint EvDO cities to just 63 cities for Verizon. Wow, Verizon was first out of the gate to offer EvDO but now trails Sprint by ½ the number of cities? Who knew?

Update 2: Another reader points out that the CNet info I linked to & sourced is out of date and that Sprint now has 220 cities and Verizon has 180 cities. Guess they're a bit closer to each other now coverage-wise, but I'm still surprised Sprint took the lead considering Verizon had the early start on EvDO.

Ironically, the Palm conference call utilized the Windows Live online presentation system. There is something sadistically wrong with that. You won't catch Apple giving a briefing on Windows Live! In any event, the new Treo 700p has a 312MHz processor, Palm OS 5.4.9, EV-DO, 1.3 megapixel digital camera, a 320 x 320 pixel display, and Bluetooth 1.2. Too tell you the truth, I'm a bit disappointed they used the same 312MHz speed processor on the 700p as the Treo 650. I'd gladly sacrifice a little bit of battery life for a speedier Treo. Speaking of battery life, the Treo 700p has 4.5 hour talk time (30 minutes less than Treo 650) and 12 days standby (1/2 day less than Treo 650).

One nice advantage of the Treo 700p vs. the Windows-based Treo 700w is that the Treo 700p supports the larger 320x320 resolution. This is a better resolution than Windows Mobile 5.0 phones, which currently only support 240x240. Though I should mention the Windows Mobile OS will support 480x480 when the cost of these screens goes down. The Treo 700w, based on Windows Mobile 5.0 is of course 240x240.

The form factor is essentially the same as the Palm Treo 700w which is based on Windows Mobile. So from a hardware perspective these two products are nearly identical. Really the big difference between them is that the Palm OS of this product supports up to 320x320 high-resolution screen which Palm claims "makes pictures and videos pop out at you". Also the button layout is slightly different on the Palm OS-based product.

Treo 700p supports DUN
You can use the 700p as a Dial-Up Networking adaptor. Using a USB cable to your laptop or Bluetooth connectivity, you can have high-speed browsing using your "unlimited EvDO data plan".  This way you can avoid hotel or hotspot charges. Verizon  blocked the dial-up networking capability on the Treo 700w causing a huge customer uproar. Verizon claimed it wasn't compatible with their equipment (uh huh) but that they planned on supporting DUN mid-year. This meant subscribers who bought the Treo 700w and a $50 monthly subscription for EvDO service on that device must also purchase a second subscription for $60 monthly, plus an EvDO card to access the Internet using a laptop.

Fortunately, Verizon has decided to support DUN on the Treo 700p. My guess is Verizon decided to support DUN on the Treo 700p or risk losing customers to Sprint who has never blocked Bluetooth DUN. Of course, as previously mentioned, Sprint's data connection maxes out at 144Kbps since they just recently started adding EvDO nationwide in select metro areas, so Verizon would still be my carrier of choice should I buy a Treo 700w.

I should mention that the nice thing about using the USB cable for DUN is that it features a 500mA trickle charger so your Treo doesn't lose juice and in fact charges while connected over USB (albeit slowly).

One great thing about EvDO on CDMA networks is you don't have to worry about missing calls. The Treo 700p will suspend the data session, the call will come through and then you can resume the data connection. This is especially important if using the DUN feature for an extended period of time and you don't want to miss any calls.

Palm Treo 700p Ignore Text Feature

Another nice usability feature is that if an incoming call comes in, you can see who is calling and then click the "Ignore with Text" button which will send them to voicemail but simultaneously pre-popular an SMS message with their phone number and type out a quick message such as "I'm busy right now, will call you back in 10 min." (see screenshot)

Palm added more feature-rich ringtones that allows you to assign ringtones not to just contacts in your favorites list, but to any contact in your address book. You can even assign a ringtone to a "category" if you have organized your contacts into categories.

Multimedia Features
The Treo 700p can send photos on the fly – no need to switch from the camera to the MMS or email application. You can also associate a photo to a contact directly from an album so the person's photo displays on an incoming call. While displaying a slideshow, you can add music or a voice recording and transitions to the slideshow.

The Treo 700p comes with its own multimedia application that supports both streaming audio and video called Pocket Tunes. The Treo 700p sports a new Pocket Tunes UI from Normsoft, however you will have to pay for an upgrade to Pocket Tunes Deluxe for "licensed" WMA/PlaysForSuresupport. Of course, the most interesting multimedia feature is support for streaming audio and video (Windows Media Player format including MPEG4, H.264, and others) which the Treo 650 lacked. Although I should point out that there are third-party video players for the Treo 650 such as the Core Pocket Media Player (TCPMP) The Core Pocket Media Player (TCPMP), but even this video player doesn't do streaming as far as I know. No word on whether the Treo 700p dropped the RealPlayer "lite" version included with the Treo 650, but there was no mention of it during my conference call.

Treo 700p Features:

General Features

• Palm OS platform
• 128MB memory total, 60MB nonvolatile memory available to user
• Battery: Removable, rechargeable Lithium-ion battery, 4.5 hours talk time, 300 hours standby
• Expansion: MultiMediaCard/SD/SDIO card slot
• Display: 320 x 320 color touchscreen with support for 65,536 colors
• Keyboard: Built-in backlit QWERTY keyboard, plus 5-way navigator
  
• Dimensions: 4.4" x 2.3" x 0.9" (111 mm x 58 mm x 22.5 mm)
  
• Weight: 6.4 ounces (180 g)
  Phone Features
  
• Personal speakerphone, Hands-free headset jack, Microphone mute option, TTY/TDD compatibility, 3-way calling
• Processor: Intel XScale 312MHz
• CDMA 800/1900 MHz digital dual-band EvDO and 1xRTT
  
  Internet access
  
• Wireless access to Outlook email
• Wireless access to AOL, Gmail, and Yahoo! email
• Fast mobile web browser
• Functions as a high-speed modem for your laptop Dial-Up Networking (DUN)
  
  PDA Features
  
• Integrated Contacts and Calendar
• Create, edit, and view native Word and Excel files
• View native PowerPoint and PDF documents
• Support for 2GB SD cards, possibly 4GB SD (still testing)
  
  Multimedia features
  
• 1.3 megapixel digital camera also captures video
• Still image capture resolution 1280 x 1024, 2x digital zoom, Video capture resolution 352 x 288, Automatic light balance (non-camera version also available)
• Plays music, pictures, and video
• Built-in Bluetooth 1.2 wireless technology and Infrared (IR)

Enhanced Messaging and Email
Palm made some UI improvements to MMS and improved addressing for SMS and MMS. More importantly it can connect to Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange ActiveSync includes contact sync for keeping your Outlook email client contacts in sync with the Treo. It has out-of-the-box support for Yahoo!, AOL, and Gmail and includes VersaMail 3.5. They've also added improved Smart Addressing which remembers recently used email addresses, a sort button on main inbox page, and improved Scrolling – simply press and hold down button to page-scroll.

It is important to note that even with the Windows-based Treo, Palm stressed their commitment to the Palm operating system. According to Steve Sinclair, Senior Product Manager for the Treo, "It’s really important for people to understand that Palm is a company that has a very strong relationship with PalmSource and plans to support the Palm OS and this (Palm 700p) and is evidence of that. That we continue to work on Palm-OS-based products and the Palm OS platform has such a strong installed base and the expectations of that installed base that we continue to innovate on usability and simplicity for our products." Steve Sinclair added, "But we want to make sure that people understand our commitment to the Palm OS. Our message at Palm is one of choice. Some people prefer Palm OS and some that have an affinity for Windows Mobile and we can offer both of those. We can put the Palm name it because we have the ability to innovative on top of both of those and make sure that they have our signature usability built into the product."

They pointed out their market growth and loyal customer support for the Palm operating system as reasons to continue to support the Palm operating system. In fact, according to a 2005 Canalys report, Palm's year-over-year smartphone growth from 2004 to 2005 was 111%. Their market share in 2004 was 26% and in 2005 grey to 33% or one-third of the smartphone market. The overall smartphone growth was 65%, however RIM, a Palm competitor saw its market share dip from 57% to 53%.

Shockingly, it does not support the WiFi card and it does not have WiFi embedded. By all appearances, WiFi is "blocked" on the device. Palm tap-danced around the issue by stating that it wasn't worth the hit to battery life to operate two radios (cellular + WiFi). I inquired about VoIP, such as supporting the Skype client and Palm replied, "That's related to the WiFi question. Because we're not supporting WiFi, we're not supporting VoIP. It's not to say it's not something we wouldn't look into in the future. Usability and being able to use your phone at the end of the day is probably the most important thing we consider." Bummer. But this doesn't preclude a third-party from developing a VoIP application for the Treo. Alas, the most popular VoIP client, Skype, has no plans to support the Palm operating system.

With the 700w, if you combine it with Exchange SP2 you you get additional administrative security features, such as remotely wiping a phone. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell the 700p doesn't support the IT administrative features.

Pros:

• Finally added streaming support with built-in streaming application
• First all-in-one Treo smartphone with EvDO and Palm OS
• First Treo to support PDF format natively
• 320 x 320 color touch-screen (better resolution than Windows Mobile 5.0 phones which currently only support 240x240, but will support 480x480 when the cost of these screens goes down) (Note: Treo 700w, based on Windows Mobile 5.0 is 240x240)
• Supports Bluetooth and USB DUN (Dial Up Networking). Note: the Treo 700w doesn't support Bluetooth DUN.
• Better compatibility with Macintosh OS vs. the Windows Mobile version
• works with 2GB cards but they said they are only "testing with 4GB SD cards". Hopefully, their tests go well.
  

Cons

• No GSM support. When asked, they wouldn't comment on future GSM plans.
• Kept same 312Mhz Intel XScale processor. They should have went with the newer Intel PXA27x XScale processor which can be clocked as high as 624Mhz.
• So Skype support or plans for a VoIP client. (Skype runs on Windows Mobile)
• No WiFi support
• No EVDO Revision A support and will not be upgradeable to this new high-speed spec
• Cannot use voice dialing via Bluetooth headset.
• No built-in VoIP support

Conclusion:
It's worth pointing out that the Treo 650 (Palm-based) was plagued with stability problems and many reboots, so let's hope the Palm 700w with its newly updated Palm OS 5.4.9 Garnet operating system solves most of those issues. I like the additional memory on the Treo 700p and the streaming audio & video support, as well as the added EvDO and PDF support. In some ways the Treo 700p looks more like an incremental upgrade to the Treo 650, especially since they are using the same speed 312 Mhz XScale processor (though slightly tweaked to run faster with less battery consumption). However, Treo fans will certainly love the new multimedia capabilities which will quiet the Windows Mobile users that taunted this as a key advantage over the Treo. Add in the fact that the Treo 700p supports EvDO there is no doubt that Palm will sell many Treo 700p's in the near future.

Pricing: Pricing will be announced later by Sprint and Verizon.

For Amazon pricing and reviews on the Treo 700/750, click here.

Vatata is a new end-to-end large-scale P2P streaming solution for publishing, delivering, and receiving streaming content. According to Vatatam "This platform is an open system completely based on the Internet. Its grid and P2P technology provide low-cost and clear delivery of content to millions of Internet users. Users can easily build their individual Internet radio stations or TV stations through Vatata."

The screenshot above is busier than New York's Hudson River Parkway on a Friday - during a rainstorn, soI'm guessing the author combined both English and Chinese words to demonstrate its features to both Chinese and Engliah web visitors. The author should have done separate English and Chinese screenshots for clarity, but nevertheless I aml intriqued with the features of Vatata.

Essentially, Vatata provides receiver software for audiences who can watch or listen to streaming contents on Vatata's grid network. It requires both a server piece and a client piece- both of which are available on Linux and Windows. Accordin to Vatata, "Each playing streaming requires about 50MB memory. Vatata server requires on IP address and limited band width and each streaming occupies one certain broadcast port. Usually, Vatata server only needs 8-10 times the band width of played streaming contents, which guarantees the contents being watched by millions of users at the same time. Users can build their own internet radio or TV stations simply through ADSL." Vatata supports WMV/WMA/ASF streaming formats and MMS streaming.