Gadgets
NSA to store yottabytes in Utah data centre
The National Security Agency is building a data centre that could potentially hold yottabytes of data. A what-a-byte? A yottabyte. As well as scoring 17 points in Scrabble, a yottabyte is equal to 1,000,000,000,000,000GB. We don't know how to even say that out loud. Continue reading...
Space Station IT: High technology
The International Space Station (ISS) isn't just an orbiting laboratory, spaceship testing-ground and multinational geek-fest -- it's also the world's highest (250 miles) and fastest (17,500mph) computer network. We burrow under its metal skin and siphon out its most interesting specifications, like some kind of star-hopping alien data vampires. But without the plutonium-coated fangs. Continue reading...
MIT Affective Intelligent Driving Agent: Robotic backseat driver 
Researchers at MIT are in the process of developing the Affective Intelligent Driving Agent, an in-car robot with an intelligent navigation system.
AIDA can identify the best route between your commonly visited destinations, taking into account environmental factors, like traffic, and your habits, such as popping out for a biryani on Thursdays. It can also give feedback on your driving, and responds to your facial expressions with its emotive 'eyes'.
Continue reading...
The three strikes rule is not only illogical, but morally wrong and a waste of public money
It's not what you know, or what's right for the British public that matters: it's which billionaire music executives take you on holiday that counts. That's certainly a conclusion you could reach if you delve into the latest announcement that the UK will start disconnecting Internet users found to be using peer-to-peer technology to download copyrighted material. This is a proposal that only ever came to light after multiply disgraced Labour string-puller Peter Mandelson enjoyed the hospitality of entertainment supremo David Geffen.
As always, the government seems determined to prove it neither understands the people it's voted in by, nor the technology those people are using. There's a PDF now available with the proposals in full, and the timescales in which these measures will be enacted. What strikes us most is the lengths the government is going to in order to appease the entertainment industry. Continue reading...
WowWee Rovio, Joebot, Cinemin and RoboRover: Red-hot robot action
When the folks from WowWee visited CNET Towers this morning, we were amused to hear them refer to their robotic wares Rovio, Joebot and RoboRover as 'he' and 'him'. But dang it if we weren't doing the same within five minutes of seeing the little fellas trundling about, flashing their lights and generally charming their servos off.
Rovio is like a three-wheeled stealth turtle, and he's very cool. We first met Rovio at CES two years ago, but this is an upgraded version new to the UK market. The interface has been improved and firmware updated. Continue reading...
Amazon to publish free Kindle PC app
Amazon is increasing the number of ways you can access its Kindle electronic book service, with a new free app for Windows PCs that lets you read and download ebooks on your computer. Like the iPhone app, it'll sync with your Kindle reader -- recently made available in the UK -- so you don't lose your page whichever device you're reading on. It also makes use of Windows 7's touch-control features. An app for Macs will follow soon. Continue reading...
Apple Magic Mouse tested, in pictures
Apple's latest foray into the fingery world of multi-touch user interfaces is the Magic Mouse. Although it doesn't outright replace the Mighty Mouse, to all intents and purposes it probably should.
It brings many of the multi-finger gesture controls from the MacBooks to the desktop. The entire surface of the mouse incorporates sensors, so gestures work regardless of where you position your fingers. Continue reading...
Square dongle turns iPhone into portable credit-card reader
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is working on a dongle for your iPhone that turns it into a credit-card reader. Imaginatively called the Square, it's a little plastic widget that fits in your headphone jack and comes with an app. When you want to buy something, the employee enters the shop and amount details, then you swipe your card and sign on the screen. Your receipt is emailed to you, with a handy map of where the shop was. Continue reading...
Wi-Fi Direct connects gadgets on the go: The death of Bluetooth?
The Wi-Fi Alliance has announced a new specification to cut out the wireless middleman. If certified with Wi-Fi Direct, devices such as printers and cameras will be able to connect directly to each other without connecting to a network.
Bad news for the tinfoil-hat wearers among us, but good news for everyone else. Ad hoc Wi-Fi networks will mean you can carry out local tasks such as printing from a camera without needing a cable, or worrying about joining a network. This could be the death of Bluetooth, even as the third version of Bluetooth is upon us. Continue reading...
Dyson's £200 Air Multiplier: We're not a fan
James Dyson can do no wrong. Neither can his PR monkeys, it seems. The 21st century's answer to Clive Sinclair has dropped the trousers on his latest piece of kit -- a desk fan with no blades -- and everyone from the FT to the Guardian, down to UK bloggers Pocket-lint, have rushed to spit out the same nonsense from the press release.
Apparently, the Dyson Air Multiplier fan "expels 405 litres of cool, smooth air every second," at least according to the Guardian. The FT weighs in with some insightful commentary too, by informing us the new Dyson "[pushes] out 119 gallons of smooth and uninterrupted air every second."
But wait! That's not all it does! Because apparently, if we're to believe Pocket-lint, it "uses engineering to 'multiply' air 15 times and push out 119 gallons of smooth and uninterrupted air." Can you believe that? Engineering of all things! Dyson sure is clever. Not to mention smooth.
Current.com.au goes one step further in its press release re-hash, by telling us the Air Multiplier actually uses "patented technology to multiply air 15 times, circulating 450 litres of cool, smooth and uninterrupted air every second." Continue reading...
