GizBeat

Category: Tech

  • NASA developing part helicopter, part airplane drone

    NASA developing part helicopter, part airplane drone

    NASA has recently unveiled their drone prototype, the GL-10, aka Greased Lightning. The GL-10 is an unmanned vehicle developed at Langley in Hampton, Virginia.

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    This battery-powered drone has a 10’/3m wingspan, 10 electric motors and weighs 28kg. The 10 powerful engines allow for vertical takeoff and landing, similar to a helicopter.

    According to the prototype’s main pilot: “All four engines on the left wing are given the same command. The four engines on the right wing also work in concert. Then the two on the tail receive the same command.”

    Flight tests have already been performed, which successfully demonstrate the vertical takeoff and landing capabilities.

    In a NASA press release, Bill Fredericks stated: “During the flight tests we successfully transitioned from hover to wing-borne flight like a conventional airplane then back to hover again. So far we have done this on five flights,”.

    “We were ecstatic. Now we’re working on our second goal — to demonstrate that this concept is four times more aerodynamically efficient in cruise than a helicopter.”

    We did lose some of the early prototypes to ‘hard landings’ as we learned how to configure the flight control system.

    The GL-10 is actually the 12th in the prototype development phase. To get to the point that GL-10 is at, all 11 prior prototypes were required. NASA engineer David North explains further:  “Each prototype helped us answer technical questions while keeping costs down…We did lose some of the early prototypes to ‘hard landings’ as we learned how to configure the flight control system. But we discovered something from each loss and were able to keep moving forward.”

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    What are some of the applications the GL-10 could be used for? According to Bill Fredericks: “We have a couple of options that this concept could be good for. It could be used for small package delivery or vertical takeoff and landing, long endurance surveillance for agriculture, mapping and other applications…A scaled up version — much larger than what we are testing now — would make also a great one to four person size personal air vehicle.”

    Fredericks added: “It’s pretty quiet. The current prototype is quieter than a neighbor mowing the lawn with a gas-powered motor.”

    The team will continue working to improve aerodynamic efficiency, and will be demonstrating the drone at upcoming NASA events.

  • MediaTek joins with Google and continues to dominate budget devices

    MediaTek joins with Google and continues to dominate budget devices

    Taiwan is the home of gadget megabrands Asus and Acer, who after getting tired of watching the likes of Dell and Gateway snag the lion’s share of profits, decided to create their own line of PC’s and notebooks.UDIGU0A2SN

    Taiwan is not only the home of Asus and Acer, but also MediaTek. There was a time not long ago when most believed that MediaTek processors only belonged in China brand phones, and that it would be unlikely they’d move beyond this bottom of the barrel position.

    As early as 2012, I predicted this wouldn’t be the case and it wouldn’t be too long before we saw MTK SoC in major brand phones. Shortly after this prediction, we had the likes of Sony, HTC and Asus all looking at producing devices with MTK processors (opens in new tab).

    Now warp speed to 2014/2015 and we not only have a slew of brands jumping on the MTK bandwagon, but the models the major brands are putting out are models that are internationally sold and considered mainstream devices. Even Google has jumped on the train and as of September 14th, 2014 there was an official announcement made by both MTK and Google which solidified their partnership in the Android One initiative.

    “Google is pleased to partner with MediaTek on the Android One initiative. MediaTek has the expertise to provide what is needed for Android One devices and insights into the needs of consumers in emerging markets,” said Caesar Sengupta, VP of Product Management at Google

    It’s also a little known fact that MediaTek was partnered with Google to create the world’s first Ultra-HD TV powered by Android. This system was powered by the MT5595, which is a big.LITTLE Cortex-A17/Cortex-A7 SoC and supports streaming of 4k2k@60fps.

    Google Cast Ready
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    As of the beginning of the year, MediaTek and Google also began collaborating on the Google Cast for audio using MT8507. Google Cast Ready speakers will be used to stream music from iPhones, iPads, Android devices, Macbooks, and Windows PCs via Google Cast Ready apps.

    Quite a few streaming services are already supported, including Google Play Music, YouTube, Pandora, Rhapsody, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Rdio and NPROne.

    “Based on the success of Chromecast, we’re excited to expand the Google Cast ecosystem by working with a leading semiconductor company such as MediaTek to power audio devices,” said Suveer Kothari, Google Cast Director of Business Development.

    https://youtu.be/8q0yZomXuSw

    MT8507 details:

    • ARM® Cortex®-A7 CPU core with L2 cache and Floating Point Unit (FPU)
    • High-resolution audio format support for up to 192kHz for PCM, FLAC, DSD and APE
    • Dolby® TrueHD and DTS Digital Surround™ decode capability
    • 16-bit single-channel DDR3 up to 512MB
    • Embedded SPDIF IN/OUT & 7.1ch I2S Output
    • HDMI Repeater (Tx/Rx) built-in with Audio Return Channel (ARC) support
    • USB 2.0, SD card, MHL support
    • 10/100 Ethernet-MAC/PHY built-in with WoLAN capability

    You know when giants such as Google join the MTK fray you’ve hit the big time and it seems that MTK’s chugalong choo-choo has quickly accelerated into a silver bullet.

  • 3D-Scanner for smartphones from Caltech

    3D-Scanner for smartphones from Caltech

    Smartphone design is mostly about minimizing form factors and maximizing features. Caltech’s dream of implementing 3D scanners in smartphones should be no hindrance to that trend.

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  • Kyocera at MWC with a Solar Phone

    Kyocera at MWC with a Solar Phone

    At this year’s MWC, Kyocera will be showcasing an ultra rugged Windows Phone, the Kyocera Torque. The ruggedized aspect of the phone extends to the phone’s usability despite running out of battery.

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  • Tech Security: Shutdown Malware on Chinese Phones, Lenovo’s Superfish Cure, Hacked SIM Encryption

    Tech Security: Shutdown Malware on Chinese Phones, Lenovo’s Superfish Cure, Hacked SIM Encryption

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    Shutdown Malware on Chinese Phones

    AVG Antivirus has spotted a type of malware that targets phones running Android v4.4 and below.

    The malware emulates a phone shutdown sequence, making the user assume the phone is in shutdown, but is actually fully functional and accessible to hackers.

    It is reported that phones with root access are less likely to be infected, but users are urged to be extra cautious about download sources of apps. Furthermore, phones running on Lollipop OS will not be affected — a pretty good reason to want for a Lollipop update.

    Lenovo’s Superfish Cure

    Lenovo has been busy trying to salvage the situation they’ve dropped themselves into. Recent Lenovo laptops have reportedly been installed with the Superfish adware, which was supposed to help users discover new products.

    However, the tech company had failed to spot a serious security flaw, wherein users logged onto the same Wi-Fi network as the adwared machine will be able to hack through the computer’s web encryption. This allows the hacker to spy on the user and even feed malware into the infected laptop’s data stream.

    Lenovo released a tool that would uninstall the Superfish program as well as remove web browser certificates, and are taking a serious step, working with Microsoft and McAfee to ensure all affected machines will be cured of the bug.

    The company said the laptops infected are those sold between September 2014 and January 2015, but give their confidence that no ThinkPads are affected.

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    Hacked SIM Encryption

    SIM-maker and digital security company, Gemalto is currently investigating the claims that the Mobile Handset Exploration Team has gotten their hands on encryption keys of Gemalto SIM cards.

    The MHET is a joint force of some of NSA and GCHQ agents. They allegedly spied on Gemalto operations, specifically how the encryption keys were handed off to their wireless carriers partners. The team then intercepted the hand off and have gained access to keys of millions of SIM cards.

    With access to encryption keys, users’ calls and messages can easily be accessed and monitored with ease. Furthermore, as SIM cards are simply transferred from smartphone to smartphone, the spies have backdoor access to the phones as well.

  • ARM Cortex A-72 Processors For Next Generation Chipsets

    ARM Cortex A-72 Processors For Next Generation Chipsets

    At the heart of nearly every smartphone out there is at least one ARM processor core. The various chipsets powering Android smartphones are based on ARM Cortex cores.

    Cortex-A72-2

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  • Smartphone Batteries with Twice the Capacity

    Smartphone Batteries with Twice the Capacity

    SolidEnergy is a start-up company that specializes in the research and development of rechargeable battery technology. Their main target is the development of batteries powering E-Vehicles. While they are on their way towards that, the company has potentially solved the short life span of lithium-ion batteries by using metal electrodes.

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  • Raspberry Pi 2 Quad Core at $35

    Raspberry Pi 2 Quad Core at $35

    The famous development board from the Raspberry Pi foundation, that has greatly impacted software development, now exists on a whole new level.

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  • Kevlar To Make Li-ion Batteries Safer and More Compact

    Kevlar To Make Li-ion Batteries Safer and More Compact

    The ban on batteries flying solo on aircrafts has been stressing out consumers. There is the fear that the ban would escalate to all Li-ion batteries even if accompanying a gadget, making it a hassle (if not an impossibility) to purchase electronics online. It was imposed because of the increasing frequency of grounded flights due to battery fires.

    Luckily, University of Michigan Engineering has decided to save the day.

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  • Quantum Dot Technology in TVs

    Quantum Dot Technology in TVs

    Click here for the Google Build Your Own Phone Project Ara article. We apologize for the incorrect link in the newsletter.

    CES 2015 will be bright and colorful with the release of many new gadgets, including the introduction of Quantum Dot TVs.

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  • DARPA Bridging the Terahertz Gap

    DARPA Bridging the Terahertz Gap

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    In 2012, the Guinness World Record for the fastest circuit was awarded to the 850 GHz Vacuum Amplifier. Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems have taken things a step further and have replaced the world record with a 1.012 THz solid-state amplifier IC.

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  • Eta Devices Gearing Up To Prolong Your Phone’s Battery

    Eta Devices Gearing Up To Prolong Your Phone’s Battery

    Eta Devices, a fresh chipset manufacturer, is aiming to solve the high battery-drain problems of smartphones and save the environment while they’re at it.

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