Posted on

Oculus Rift Headset to Make Its Debut in 2016

In 2016, the Oculus Rift headset hits store shelves for virtual reality enthusiasts everywhere to enjoy.

In August 2012, the Oculus Rift began as a Kickstarter project that raised $2.4 million. The project was created by Palmer Luckey who wanted to create a device that would jump-start the virtual reality community.

According to Mashable writer Chelsea Stark, “The original Oculus Rift development kit (known as the DK1) featured a 1280 x 720 resolution screen, a 60-hertz refresh rate and no positional tracking. It was a working proof of concept, but Oculus VR iterated and released a second-gen development kit (the DK2) in summer of 2014.”

The 2014 version was a more improved model that included 1920 x 1080 screen resolution and a camera for positional tracking. That was just the beginning stage of the creation of the consumer model.

The changes will be on full display when the Oculus Rift is released. A specific date has not been announced for the release, and there is little known about the exact specifications the headset will have. There is only speculation at this time.

What we do know is that the Crescent Bay 2014 prototype has been receiving very good press.  “Oculus’ Crescent Bay prototype blew our mind when we first tried it at Oculus Connect last September — a VR alien waved at our man Hayden Dingman and he instinctually waved back, reports Brad Chacos, senior editor for PCWorld.

The goal of the headset is to be compatible with video game consoles to provide an immersive experience. According to Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell, it is very possible for the headset to be used for the X-Box and PlayStation.

Anticipation will continue to build as everyone waits for the release date to be revealed.

Posted on

Ghana’s Burgeoning Tech Start-Up World Is Showing the Innovative Spirit to Make It the Next Silicon Valley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2GFnnmKIs4

Whether you are talking about a Silicon Valley Roundabout, Fen or Wadi – there is no shortage of countries looking to adorn their mantelpieces with a hi-tech hub.

But in the developing world, and especially in Africa, getting that unique mix of tech and business skills together, not to mention investment, can be a big ask.

David Reid visited Accra, in Ghana to see a school for start-ups with big ambitions.

Source: Rana02

Posted on

Liquid Processor Cooling Innovation May Save Consumers Billions

University of Alabama in Huntsville researchers have developed a new cooling apparatus that could bring many changes.

Dr. James E. Smith Jr., Cuong Nguyen and Xiaolin Wang have invented a way to cool down processors without electricity, using liquid, and is more cost-efficient than the everyday cooling systems currently being used.

Cooling is possible because of the excellent heat-transfer characteristics of Fluorinert FC-72.

TechRepublic writer Michael Kassner explains that the process works because “heat from the computer processor vaporizes the Fluorinert liquid. Then the vapor being lighter moves upward to the heat exchanger. The FC-72 transfers its heat load to the exchanger, which in turn transfers the heat to the surrounding air. Removing heat causes the FC-72 to condense into a liquid that flows into the holding tank below the heat exchanger. From the holding tank, the liquid FC-72 travels to the processor where the cycle is repeated.”

The researchers made progress due to a $10,000 grant from UAH Charger Innovation Fund last year. The team has estimated that computer manufacturers could save up to $600 million and consumers could save more than $6.3 billion per year if the cooling innovation is used in future computers.

“Our system can absolutely work, and it can work for 12 hours in a stable condition,” Nguyen said.

This type of cooling system could possibly be used for propulsion systems for space travel and 21st century power delivery systems. Since the project is in the early stages, there are a large number of people who still need convincing.

Posted on

Epic Selfies and Hollywood Shots: 3DR’s New Solo Brings Consumers Into the New Era of Drones

Drones have been growing in popularity among professional filmmakers and photographers who would do just about anything to get the perfect shot, but a new drone has just been introduced to the market and is making it easier for even the newest of drone novices to capture stunning aerial shots on their own.

Thanks to 3D Robotics, the average consumer will finally be able to use his or her own drones to capture the type of shots that have long been reserved for those with years of experience piloting drones.

The $1,000 Solo drone offers a collection of helpful tools that make shooting with the drone easier while also providing new features that haven’t been available on drones in the past.

“We like to joke that we just turned Steven Spielberg into software,” Chris Anderson, the CEO of 3D Robotics, told NBC News.

That’s because the new features make it possible for anyone to capture the type of video that “a Hollywood director would approve of.”

“It has a simple controller, with a holder for your iPhone or iPad, which act as both the monitor for the drone and the remote control for the mounted GoPro camera,” Wired reports of the new drone.

It also features a panic button on the controller that will stop the drone in its tracks along with a flight simulator that will help new drone pilots learn how to control the flying device without risking serious damage to their $1,000 investment.

Other impressive features are the “follow me” mode that allows users to draw a path for the drone on the screen and the “Orbit” function that will cause the drone to create a perfect circular path around a selected object.

Solo is even making a way for drone users to capture stunning selfie videos.

With just one click, the GoPro camera will focus on the user as it flies away to create an epic selfie shot that would be much more difficult to get otherwise.

Perhaps the most innovative feature, however, will be the fact that the Solo drone is encouraging hackers to improve the software with their own tech skills.

Solo is being sold as an open platform, which will allow users to freely tinker with the hardware and software.

The Solo’s release comes at just the right time as more and more consumers are getting swept away in the drone wave.

In 2014, consumers spent $69 million on drones, and they are expected to spend more than $100 million in 2015 on the devices, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.

Posted on

NASA Tests 10 Engine Plane That’s Half Copter and All Awesome

NASA revealed a new prototype drone with the capabilities of a helicopter and airplane. The Greased Lightning or GL-10 is a concept for a future aircraft with the goal to make drones and unmanned planes more efficient in the years to come. It uses 10 engines to maximize speed and mobility.

The prototype was developed at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Aerospace engineers Bill Fredericks, David North and Zack Johns are some of the members of the team that developed the drone. As they worked on the project, they had many different ideas about how it could be utilized.

“It could be used for small package delivery or vertical take-off 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 said.

With news of Amazon starting a drone delivery service (Amazon Prime Air) to its customers, The Greased Lightning’s innovation may make attract other companies to join the drone delivery service.

According to Kathy Barnstorff for the NASA Langley Research Center, “The GL-10 is currently in the design and testing phase. The initial thought was to develop a 20-foot wingspan (6.1 meters) aircraft powered by hybrid diesel/electric engines, but the team started with smaller versions for testing, built by rapid prototyping.”

The plane is also very quiet even though there are 10 engines at work. Fredericks goes on to say that the plane is quieter than a lawn mower.

The Greased Lightning prototype will be the main attraction at the Association for Unmanned Vehicles Systems International 2015 conference in Atlanta through Thursday.

Posted on

5 New Cloaking Technologies Set to Make Invisibility a Reality in the Near Future

seismic_cloak_2

Earthquake Cloaking Device

Technology can solve many things at this point, even earthquakes. The diagram above shows how scientists at the Institut Fresnel in Marseille, France, plan on stopping seismic energy. First, the vibroprobe shakes the ground – simulating an earthquake. Second, rows of hollow cylinders act as metamaterials (man-made materials) that will reflect the vibrations away from the important structure and make it “invisible” to the “earthquake.” The whole experiment will have acoustic sensors to measure how well this works.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5
Posted on

Apple Wants Music Labels to End Spotify’s Free Streaming for Personal Gain

Apple wants to convince music labels to end the free streaming tiers of major streaming services. The company plans to start with Spotify. Out of the 60 million people using Spotify, only 15 million use the premium, paid service.

Apple has been trying to use its power to end all free streaming services. This move would put the company in a prime position to grab the discarded free users when Apple’s streaming service becomes available in the near future. It is slated to roll out in June, according to Billboard, but that is not entirely set in stone.

Writer Jordan Weissmann for Slate Magazine says that “music labels still own a significant financial stake in Spotify, which makes it seem a tad, well, unlikely that they’d try to even the playing field at all for Apple.”

However, the news comes before the relaunch of Beats. The point of these backdoor plans is to lower the price of streaming services from the standard of $9.99 to $7.99 when Apple launches its own.

Over the years, Apple has lost revenue due to the popularity of the free streaming options out there. People are not interested in buying from iTunes when the same music is available for free elsewhere.

These backdoor negotiations have attracted the attention of the Department of Justice because of possible violations of anti-trust laws. Apple reportedly has had a history of strong-arming companies for its own interest during the Steve Jobs era. In the past, Apple wanted to raise e-book prices in an attempt to compete with Amazon.

We can only wait and see if any federal action will happen to Apple or if Spotify retaliates.