Recharge Your Phone In 30 Seconds

An Israeli startup company claims to have created a smartphone battery that can charge in just 30 seconds, thanks to the use of nanotechnology. StoreDot revealed its prototype battery at Microsoft’s Next conference on Monday.

They showcased how a smartphone that has 0% battery, can be revived to 100%, in just 30 seconds. The battery, which is currently about the size of a laptop battery, contains bio-organic nanodots, which are miniscule conductive crystals that aid this super quick charge.

SuperDot is hoping that with further development, it can reduce the size of the product so that the final result will be more like the size of a normal smartphone battery.

Word is that production will begin in late 2016 but Dr Doron Myersdorf, StoreDot’s CEO and co-founder, said that “The only disadvantage is that the industry is not ready for it. “We are talking about a new type of materials that can be introduced into different types of devices.”

So from that you can conclude we won’t be seeing the charger commercially available for some time yet but when it does the company says to expect the charger to cost around double that of a normal smartphone battery.

SOURCE: via YouTube

Help Wanted: computer programmers needed to code and maintain Linux systems.

The Linux operating system and Linux servers are so widely used today that not enough Linux-trained coders and system techs exist. Software developers and enterprise IT departments have jobs but no takers.

To fill this shortage, the Linux Foundation has partnered with edX to offer a free online course to help computer engineers learn Linux.

The growing shortage of Linux-capable programmers is a big contributor to the general unawareness of open source procedures in the software developer community. On the academic front, some universities and secondary school systems are introducing courses developed by the Stem Education Coalition. STEM's mission is to inform federal and state policymakers about the critical role that science, technology and engineering play, and the benefits available to schools from open source technology.

On the job front, some industry leaders are joining forces to jumpstart a Linux of Learning movement to help ease the growing shortage of qualified programmers to take waiting jobs.

"This shortage goes beyond merely not having enough Linux programmers. It is pervasive and goes across every sector of technology -- mainly because Linux is pervasive. Part of the issue is that you can not just take programmers proficient in one area, such as Windows, and have them work on Linux code," Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, told LinuxInsider.

Historically And Accidentally

Today, Linux and the Linux platform are running society. It is staggering how the demand for Linux is growing, noted Zemlin.

For example, literally thousands of televisions sold every day are controlled by Linux. It runs financial systems. It runs the Internet and air traffic control systems. High performance computing -- you name it -- all of this runs on Linux, he explained.

"This is an accident of history. For many years, Windows dominated enterprise technology. Linux has grown so quickly that it caught IT people off guard," said Zemlin.

Growth Factor

Enterprise and software developers are facing a growing shortage of software engineers who know Linux coding. The adoption of Linux and open source software has outstripped the supply of people trained to innovate, create and service these systems.

The Linux Foundation's surveys among enterprise respondents show the No. 1 hiring priority for IT managers is Linux skills. Linux programmers also get paid more than other programmers, according to Zemlin.

"This is a critical shortage. Any scalable way we can lower that market, the Linux Foundation wants to get behind it," he said.

MOOCs to the Rescue

One of the first solutions the Linux Foundation is backing involves bringing free introductory training directly to potential job takers worldwide. If the online learning method proves successful, advanced course offerings will follow.

The Linux Foundation and edX are partnering to develop a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) program that will help to bridge the training gap for IT talent. The basic Linux training course and materials will be available to all enrolled students for free. So will be the cost of taking what, until now, was a US$2,500 course.

EdX recently open-sourced its online education platform and will host the Linux Foundation course. edX is a nonprofit online learning destination created by MIT and Harvard University.

The free Linux course will be paid out of the group's own funding. For example, MIT and Harvard have invested $15 million in edX, and there are other funding streams, according to Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX.

Crowd Interest

"The Linux course the Linux Foundation is offering is fast becoming one of the five most popular courses we offer," Agarwal told LinuxInsider.

The 170 other online programs edX hosts completely online serve more than 2 million students from 196 countries and that number is growing dramatically. The Linux course had 100,000 students sign up in the first 10 days, he said.

The online course approach is making a huge impact on the world. So it is a very natural progression to offer the Linux course. The idea was to experiment with this one, Agarwal added.

Reasons For Learning Linux Lessons

Many computer users and some enterprise executives are not aware of the proliferation of Linux and open source. That is part of the education process the Linux Foundation is addressing. People who do not know about the Linux OS or Linux servers are generally clueless about open source software as well.

Still, the demand for Linux and other open source tools has been growing for years. As a result, there is a need for developing associated skills across multiple industries, said Shravan Goli, president of Dice.

"There is a shortage of software developers in the U.S. The employment rate for these jobs is down to 2.3 percent in the last quarter. The opportunity for jobs is now there for people who come in to get this training," Goli told LinuxInsider.

Linux Driving Jobs Opportunities

That is part of the motivation behind getting more training available online. The need is not just for open source training but for other aspects of software programming as well. These MOOC courses will put a lot of emphasis on open source, the data cloud and Linux, Goli said.

"We are starting to see an increased awareness for the opportunities in the field for learning about software programming. But initiatives are also starting for grass roots efforts to get more people involved, excited and learning coding at a very early stage and ultimately to develop those skills," he noted.

Job ads on Dice are showing career paths for a widespread adoption of technologies at all sorts of companies. Whether it is a retail company or telecom, finance company or automobile company, all kinds of companies beyond the traditional technology firms are leveraging software technologies, Goli explained. That is heightening demand for Linux skills.

Linux Leanings Advantage

Two other technology developments are driving the need for Linux programmers. One is the availability of -- and the ability to collect -- lots of data. The other is the growth of mobile devices, Goli said.

When you combine mobile with data collection and the idea that all kinds of devices need to be available for enterprises all the time, it also is spurring the movement toward cloud technology, he added.

"All of these components have both a combination of a proprietary platform and open source. All of these new demands are consuming the existing computer engineers, so there is a growing vacancy for replacements and new positions," he said.

What You Should Know

The shortage in computer programmers for open source software development and Linux programs is not all that surprising. Any time you have a change in the technology landscape, professionals have to change their skills, noted Zemlin.

"Really, it's the changing of the guard. It is a pervasive changing of the guard -- not just limited to the skills needed for Linux. We are also seeing a demand for a second set of skills. This involves what it takes to work across companies and across industries," he added.

This new skill set is needed for those programmers already in the industry, as well as those looking to start their programming careers. It involves how you present your skill sets in a resume when you participated in open source projects.

"If you are able to get your patch in for the Linux kernel, the odds are you are going to get a job. That requires not only knowing the programming skills to get that code into the kernel, but also knowing how the open source development process works. It also involves knowing how to collaborate with others, which is equally important," Zemlin said, noting that is what Linux of Learning is all about.

Where It Is Headed

The response to the Linux Foundation's first free course offering through edX surprised both Zemlin and Agarwal, and both said the results would need solid analysis before they could point to what should happen next.

"That is very cool. It is not that often we get to fill several football stadiums with Linux fans. I do not know where we will go after this. We will cross that bridge when we get to it," Zemlin said.

Success will be measured by looking at three factors, according to Agarwal. The first one, the volume of people signing up for the course, clearly has already been met.

The next step is to determine whether students feel they have learned significantly from taking the course and can pursue job opportunities. The third part is learning what potential employers feel about the qualifications of the students who have completed the course.

"The hope is that more of the Foundation's Linux courses will be added to our platform," said 

Predicting The Result

The MOOC model has not been proven yet. Ultimately, its success will depend on the end-users' motivation to learn and apply themselves and then to go find the opportunities, said Dice's Goli.

The availability of an online medium to learn Linux is definitely providing the opportunity to many more people than five years ago. Still, it is going to take time to see an impact, he cautioned.

"I do not see this as a perfect solution. It is more of a ground level, grass roots, cultural movement that is happening," Goli remarked. "Ultimately, we are going to see the benefits -- but the overall shortage of professionals, I think, we are going to continue to see

NEW FLAGSHIPS

If you’re in the market for an Android phone, the range of options is rather wider than it was a month ago. Tomorrow Samsung’s S5 will start to sell what will surely top 50m units; HTC’s new One is already on sale; and Sony’s Xperia Z2 has just landed on my desk for review, signalling impending public sales.

None of these devices is, unfortunately, a great leap forward. HTC’s camera appears impressive initially, but ultimately lets it down, Samsung’s plastic design is a problem that many can’t get over, and Sony’s screen is not as good as the other two. That said, the Sony is a lovely looking piece of rectangular design and a superb compromise between all the best options on the market.

If I were to be buying one myself, I’d probably go for the Samsung because it offers the option to connect to the new generation of wearable devices that the South Korean giant is pioneering. But even then, Google’s own Android Wear devices will be out in July.

The point, however, is not which Android phone is best: we are currently on an innovation plateau before the next stage of devices, so they are all simply iterative improvements on their predecessors.

Two points, therefore, arise: if you want a new phone, the reasons not to go for last year’s model at a bargain price are fewer than ever (and don’t forget Google’s Nexus 5 by LG).

But there’s a much bigger theme, too: mobile phones have driven huge profits but are no longer at the cutting edge. Over the next decade there will be a process of making almost every device smart. It’s starting with washing machines and thermostats already, and plant sensors are easily available to put your window box online. The phone is not an end in itself; it’s becoming ever clearer it is only a gateway to an internet of things. Worth noting that Samsung is the company that already makes most of those things and is poised to have the first stab at smartening them up.

Why You Shouldn’t Jog‏

First things first—don’t let this article ruin the joy of a good jog. If you enjoy jogging, you’re more likely to do it, so have at it. A good jog now and then can burn fat and improve cardiovascular health—and it can be done with little risk of injury.

But although jogging has its benefits, it can’t compete with many other workouts—options that burn more fat, deliver better cardiovascular benefits, trigger physiological responses that further enhance body composition, and present less risk of nagging inflammation and overuse injuries.

Here are a few reasons why jogging is not my first choice for most fitness clients.

Is Something Wrong With Jogging?

Mechanics

Jogging offers less reward per risk when compared with running and walking. Of the three, jogging’s angle of force requires the greatest amount of vertical displacement. Conscientious walking and elite-level sprinting translates more force horizontally, engages a broader range of motion and minimizes jarring throughout the body, especially the torso.

Speaking of the torso, a common deficiency in many joggers is posture. A long jog has a jarring effect on the postural muscles, which can eventually result in improper body position. Although it’s possible to minimize jarring by concentrating on form throughout a run, joggers tend to lose form when they “tune out” during long runs. Walkers, on the other hand, usually maintain good form during long walks.

Sprinting produces a much higher amount of force, but this is actually a good thing, since muscle groups surrounding joints create stability when they contract. The quicker the stride, the more stability the muscles are able to provide.

Metabolism

Since sprinting requires more force and a greater range of motion than jogging, it’s more metabolically demanding. We also know that a combination of sprinting and walking increases metabolism better than simple jogging.

Also, sprinting requires more fuel than jogging, which is better for those who want to slim down. When training for body composition, we want to make movements as inefficient (and inherently difficult) as possible. As with any movement, the more you jog, the more efficient you become at it, and the longer you need to run to trigger the same response. Which leads me to my next point.

Overuse Injuries

Despite its inherent flaws as a mode of exercise, jogging can be safe for those who use proper technique. However, the high volume and frequency of most  jogging programs make even the smallest injuries grow significant over time. If a jogger pauses his or her training to heal, his or her aerobic system will begin to atrophy, and all that hard-earned progress will feel like an exercise in futility. That’s why, even for clients who love to jog, Its recommend a routine that taxes the aerobic system without the repeated load on the knee joints.

Specificity

Training specificity is one of the simplest, yet most misunderstood, principles in exercise programming. Every movement you make should get you closer to your goal. So unless your goal is to jog better, you should probably be doing more functional exercises. If your goal is body composition, even the best jogs can’t deliver the results that anaerobic programs can.

Alternatives to Jogging

Get better results faster by training with the following workout programs.

Intervals

By combining sprinting and walking, you get the best of both worlds: tapping your anaerobic threshold, sustaining your heart rate and refining your running mechanics for transfer to sports. This is why we see less jogging on football fields and basketball courts today.

Circuit Training

By ordering your workouts to move from exercise to exercise with little rest, you maintain an elevated heart rate while tapping anaerobic thresholds and activating a variety of muscle groups. Circuit training gives you a solid workout in a short amount of time and offers endless opportunities for customization. This is the cornerstone of most popular group exercise programs.

Swimming, Biking and Incline Walks

Although I may appear to be biased toward anaerobic training, "pure" aerobic training definitely has a place in muscle gain/fat loss routines—i.e., for those who already do resistance training more than three days per week. For this crowd, swimming, biking and uphill walking complement resistance training to enhance body composition and overall fitness. All rely heavily on the aerobic system and are normally safe to perform to fatigue.

Multi-Planar Movements

I am a big fan of multi-planar movements for a number of reasons. The additional muscle activation and movement inefficiency leads to more caloric output and adaptation. Also, multi-directional movements could lead to better joint function and dynamic stability. Plus, I simply enjoy seeing creative movement in some cases; it shows they are engaged in their training. Crossovers, backpedals, and lateral movements of any kind are all solid options.

Sports

If you are a big fan of competitive sports. Staying in the weight room all day can lead to over-developed areas of the body and injuries. Want a muscle strain? Train exclusively in the weight room for a month, then go all-out in a game of basketball. The sports I recommend most are soccer, basketball, tennis, racquetball, football and volleyball, in that order. Notice how all these sports can be seen as forms of interval training?

Uphill Sprints

Sprinting uphill is good for the body because it relies very little on the eccentric and elastic contribution at the joints. As a matter of fact, the exercise is almost entirely concentric force production, a method often used in rehabilitation to strengthen, but not break down, muscle groups.

Having had to have them several times over the course of  life, I can tell you for certain that stitches are no fun. Honestly, the stitches aren’t even the worst part – the worst part is getting stuck with the needle that’s supposed to numb you to the pain of the stitches. But what if there was some way to avoid all that unpleasantness? What if the stigma attached with sutures just vanished overnight and getting stitches was no worse than saying “aah”?

It turns out that researchers are currently working on a type of sutures which doesn’t involve any kind of sewing whatsoever. That’s right – stitches without the, well, stitches. Just how in the world does that work? A team of individuals from the University of Maryland have developed a way to use spray-on stitches to help your body heal after an operation or an injury. While this sounds a bit hard to believe at first, their technique has already shown some signs of success.

Polymer nano-fibers which will be used for spray-on stitches.

The researchers figured out a way to use a biodegradable polymer to replace painful sutures once and for all. After 42 days on the body, the material would (in theory) simply decompose and disappear. So far the team has tested out this technique on animals and they have had good results.

It remains to be seen if this process will ever become standard for humans, but one can only hope for the best. After all, getting injured or having to have surgery is bad enough. Who wants to deal with stitches for weeks after the fact? I’m all for treatments that make healing all that much easier.

What do you think?

Google Chrome Better Gaming Experience

Are you a gamer?  What web browser do you use?  Well, if you haven’t tried it already, you should give Google Chrome a trial run on your PC and see if you like it.  Google Chrome is one of the best desktop browsers currently available on the planet. Millions of people from all over are now users of Chrome.  They have had enough with their old browser and are replacing them with Google’s lightening quick software.

Why is it so popular? For one thing, it is available as a free download and it takes no more than a minute to install and set up. The next thing is it is fast, I don’t mean a little quick, I mean FAST.  We are taking Usain Bolt speed here!

Google Chrome has been around for a long time now and there is a good reason for that. It is lightweight, runs smoothly and easily, and it’s secure and (for me anyway) never fails.

Most antivirus apps are now optimized best for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox security and Google Chrome has some of the best safety measures in place to ensure data privacy and security is top notch. Chrome’s free download does not take more than a few MB of space and once you’ve installed it, you won’t look back.

Gamers in particular prefer Chrome as their browser of choice because it does not take up too many resources whilst running in the background. Google Chrome is perfectly optimized to work along with the latest Flash player from Adobe, Adobe Flash 13.  This means that viewing online media is both easy and stable. Have you ever opened a few too many browser tabs and the next thing you know, the browser crashes? Well, now you can say ‘goodbye’ to those days as Chrome can take as many tabs as you want to open.

Finally, Google Chrome has a wide variety of plugins and customization options, as I have mentioned in a previous article and most of the tools available are free of cost. Themes, wallpapers, productivity plugins and shopping plugins can be added to make browsing a new, fresh and enjoyable experience.

What is your opinion?

Consumers pick up their phones a whopping 100 times a day, according to new research released this week.

US software company Mobile Posse, which provides mobile home and lock screen messaging, has teamed up with Phoenix Marketing International to create a report and infographic detailing mobile consumer usage behaviours.

The profound impact of smartphones has taken the technology, business, advertising, media and retail world by storm, but despite its huge and rapidly developing impact, Mobile Posse felt there was a lack of industry research on the mobile home screen.

This is where Phoenix came in. In order to address this issue, the market research company, which was founded in 1999, set about surveying 1,000 smartphone users about their mobile behaviour, home screen usage and future desires.

The research, which has been bundled into an infographic, found that nearly 50% of consumers pick up their phones to kill time, the average person has nine alerts when they pick up their phone, and daily users of games, news and social sites are three to five times more likely than non-daily users, to proactively ask to be served content.

CEO of Mobile Posse, Jon Jackson, said the study also included existing research and custom research from passive meters, along with new research from Phoenix Marketing International.

This report focuses on how consumers use their phones and what it means in the context of the home screen,” Jackson said.

“This initial report will be followed by one focusing on home/lock screen case studies and another first-ever look at the home screen market.”

Download the full Consumer and Their Mobile Home Screen report here.

Do you look at your phone screen up to 100 times?

Vodafone Group Plc said on Thursday it would add 150 shops and create 1,400 jobs across the United Kingdom during the next 12 months in a 100 million pound ($166.33 million) investment.

The British group said the expansion is part of the company's plans to invest 1 billion pounds ($1.66 billion) in the United Kingdom in 2014 where it serves 19 million customers.

Vodafone last year in June said that it would increase its UK expenditure by more than 50 percent to nearly 1 billion pounds.

The opening of the new shops will increase the total number of Vodafone's branded UK outlets to more than 500, the company said.

It plans to open first of the 150 stores in Notting Hill, Fulham, Walthamstow, Wembley, Ilford, Perry Barr and Bicester.

Vodafone is the third-largest mobile operator in Britain after EE, a joint venture between Orange and Deutsche Telekom, and Telefonica's O2.

British Prime Minister David Cameron supported Vodafone's plans.

"It is a sign that our long-term economic plan to create jobs and build a stronger, more competitive economy is working," he said in a statement.

($1 = 0.6012 British Pounds)

Windows OS Still Dominating The Market

It’s less than a week before Microsoft pulls the plug on Windows XP, but it doesn’t look like Microsoft’s attempts to get people off the operating system has made a significant impact. NetMarketshare just released the latest data on operating system market shares, which only goes to show that the outdated operating system really is still close to the hearts of users.

The report shows that Windows definitely dominates the market, as we all know. At 90.94%, that pretty much leaves everyone else eating Windows’s dust.

When it comes to the various flavors of Windows, however, Windows XP holds a significant 27.69% market share. Windows dominates with 48.77%, followed (far behind) by Windows 8 (6.41%), Windows 8.1 (4.89%), and Windows Vista (2.99%). I wonder who still uses Windows Vista???

Those shares are not that surprising at all, but what’s interesting is the growth of each the operating systems. Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 have grown, collectively, at 0.62 percentage points. If you look at them individually, though, Windows 8 practically has no growth with 0.03 percentage points, while Windows 8.1 has 0.59 percentage points.

Here’s the zinger: Windows 7 has outperformed everyone else with a 1.46 rise in percentage points.

Considering that it has only been five months since Windows 8.1 was released, one could argue that the numbers could change in its favor this year, especially since its growth has been steady, albeit slow. Additionally, we cannot ignore the rumors that Microsoft is working on a free version of Windows 8.1, and if that comes to fruition, the operating system’s adoption rate will in all likelihood grow even more. After all, everyone likes a free deal

As can be expected, Windows Vista’s share has dropped, and while the “say bye to Windows XP” campaign may not have been as successful as Microsoft has hoped, the operating system has dropped by 1.84 percentage points.

Which version of Windows are you using? and Why?

 Microsoft Corp is to give away its Windows operating system to makers of smartphones and small tablets for consumers as it seeks to make more of an impact on those fast-growing markets and counter the massive success of Google Inc's free Android platform.

Microsoft's move, announced at its annual developers conference in San Francisco, is an attempt to broaden the small user base of mobile versions of Windows, in the hope that more customers will end up using Microsoft's money-making, cloud-based services such as Skype and Office.

Up to now, Microsoft has charged phone and tablet makers between $5 and $15 per device to use its Windows system, as it has done successfully at higher prices for many years with Windows on personal computers. Hardware makers factor the cost of that into the sale price of each device.

That model has been obliterated in the past few years by the fast adoption of Google's Android system for phones and tablets, which hardware makers quickly embraced and now accounts for more than 75 percent of all smartphones sold last year. Apple Inc's iPhone and iPad account for most of the rest of the mobile computing market.

By contrast, Windows-powered phones held only 3 percent of the global smartphone market last year. Windows tablets have only about 2 percent of the tablet market, according to tech research firm Gartner.

FREE MONEY BUSINESS

Microsoft's move to make Windows free for some consumer devices bucks a central tenet of Bill Gates' original philosophy, that software should be paid for, which led to Microsoft's massive financial success over the last four decades. But analysts said it is a realistic reaction to the runaway success of free Android.

"Microsoft is facing challenges on the mobile and tablet fronts and need to change their strategy to move the growth needle, this is a good and logical first step," said Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets.

Windows will be free for companies making phones and tablets with screen sizes under nine inches for the consumer market. A license fee will still apply for business devices.

It comes a week after new Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella unveiled new versions of Word, PowerPoint and Excel applications for Apple Inc's iPad. A year's free subscription to Microsoft's cloud-based Office 365 service will be offered on the new devices running the free Windows, Microsoft said.

Both moves show that Microsoft is now more interested in gaining market share for its cloud-based services such as Office on any platform or device, rather than its traditional approach of putting Windows at the center of everything it does and extending its influence from there.

In the new era of mobile computing, Nadella acknowledged Microsoft's underdog status.

"We are going to innovate with a challenger mindset," said Nadella in a question and answer session at the developer conference. "We are not coming at this as some incumbent trying to do the next version of Windows, we are going to come at this by innovating in every dimension."

Nadella did not have a snappy answer to the question of what Microsoft's overarching mission now was, after it had achieved its original goal of putting a computer on every desk and in every home. Instead he elaborated on remarks he made last week about the importance of mobile devices as everything we do becomes digitized and connected to the internet.

"Our vision, simply put, is to thrive in this world of mobile first, cloud first," said Nadella. "Our goal is to really build platforms, create the best end-user experiences, the best developer opportunities and IT infrastructure for this ubiquitous computing world.

SIRI RIVAL

Also at the gathering, Microsoft formally announced it has developed a voice activated phone assistant feature called Cortana, a direct rival to Apple's Siri.

The feature has been rumored for some months and a test version was demonstrated at the event by Joe Belfiore, a Windows Phone executive.

The Cortana service, which can take verbal instructions to search the Web, set alarms, make calls and a host of other actions, is still in beta testing but will soon be a standard feature on Windows phones, said Belfiore.

He announced that the latest version of Microsoft's smartphone software, called Windows Phone 8.1, will be rolled out to consumers as a downloadable upgrade in the next few months, and new phones running the software will be in stores by late April or early May.

Can you imagine being able to recharge your smartphone or tablet just by lying it out in the sun? Well scientists from the Nanyang Technology University (NTU) have created the next-generation solar cell material, which not only converts light to electricity but also emits light.

The solar cell has been developed from the wonder material Perovskite, which could prove to be the answer in producing a highly efficient, inexpensive solar cells. As well as lighting up when electricity is passed through them, the light can be customized to glow various colours.

The discovery came about almost by accident when NTU physicist Sum Tze and postdoctoral researcher Xing Guichuan shined a laser onto the hybrid Perovskite solar cell material. They discovered that when a laser beam was shone onto the Perovskite solar cell, it glowed brightly, which was unusual as normal solar cell materials absorb light but do not generate any.

“What we have discovered is that because it is a high quality material, and very durable under light exposure, it can capture light particles and convert them to electricity, or vice versa,” said Asst Prof Sum, a Singaporean scientist at NTU’s School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS).

“By tuning the composition of the material, we can make it emit a wide range of colours, which also makes it suitable as a light emitting device, such as flat screen displays.

Going  Green

What we have now is a solar cell material that can be made semi-translucent. It can be used as tinted glass to replace current windows, yet it is able to generate electricity from sunlight,” said assistant Professor Nripan Mathews from the School of Materials Science and Engineering.

This could radically change and improve so-called green buildings and the scientists are working on larger scale versions of the materials for use in large-scale solar cells.

Such a versatile yet low-cost material would be a boon for green buildings. Since we are already working on the scaling up of these materials for large-scale solar cells, it is pretty straightforward to modify the procedures to fabricate light emitting devices as well. More significantly, the ability of this material to lase, has implications for on-chip electronic devices that source, detect and control light,” said Dr Matthews.

There is a patent pending on the new material, which cost five times less than the current Silicon-based solar cells.

SOURCE: http://phys.org/news/2014-03-scientists-material-solar-cell-day.html

Usually the GDC is all about the games and related gaming technologies.  This year at the 2014 Games Developers Conference Intel had decided it was the time to talk about their new processor line-up. The 3 new and powerful chips that were unveiled by Intel this week are undoubtedly going to appeal to the PC gamer market.

I believe that the highest possible performance from a chip for a desktop PC that is available for purchase today, is an Intel Core i7 4770 chip. But all that is about to change.  In the next few months Intel will be releasing the new chip called ‘Devil Canyon’. This is a specially manufactured and unlocked Haswell Core i7 processor with an enhanced thermal interface and CPU packaging. What that fundamentally means is that it is going to be clocked higher and can be overclocked even higher.  The chip can achieve both whilst maintaining lower temperatures than existing Core chips.

Intel has also announced a spanking new Extreme Edition Core processor, which not only squeezes in 8-cores and thereby 16 threads, but it includes support for DDR4 memory. That should appeal to any user who always wants more performance form their memory bandwidth and works with video editing or 3D content.

And finally Intel has detailed what just maybe a budget over-clocker’s dream chip. Intel is releasing a multiplier unlocked Pentium processor.  They are doing this in recognition of the brand’s 20th anniversary. A user can tweak both the core and memory frequencies to their desired specifications. Obviously you will need adequate cooling for the variations in the tweaks you perform.

Although they have confirmed the release of this new set of power processors, Intel has yet to confirm what the final specification of each of these new chips will be. All eyes to Intel and the second half of 2014, as it is certainly going to be an interesting time period for the enthusiast and budget PC builders amongst you.

If you have any comments regarding this story, please leave your comments in the section below.

 Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang debuted new and upcoming graphics technology recently including a $3,000 high-end component for PC game enthusiasts and a cloud-computing partnership with VMWare.

With the personal computer industry losing steam and the chipmaker's move into mobile facing relentless competition, Nvidia is heavily promoting its graphics technology for a wider range of applications, including cars and data centers.

At the company's annual graphics technology conference in San Jose, Huang wowed close to 3,000 attendees with souped up chips for machine learning and a self-driving Audi, powered by an Nvidia processor, that drove onto the stage during his presentation.

Huang announced a new version of Nvidia's high-end Titan graphics card, its top of the line offering for die-hard PC gamers. The new Titan Z, which will sell for $2,999, boasts two Kepler graphics processors and follows the previous Titan chip that sold for about $1,000.

He showed the new Titan device intricately simulating the natural interplay between a solid block swinging from an elastic and smoke particles moving around it, all adhering to the laws of physics.

If you're in desperate need of a supercomputer that you need to fit under your desk, we have just the card for you," Jen-Hsun said.

Huang also announced an upcoming graphics processor unit, codenamed after French mathematician Blaise Pascal, with memory chips stacked one on top of each other to allow data to move faster and more efficiently.

Nvidia has been trying to push into tablets and smartphones but it has struggled to stake out market share due to stiff competition from larger Qualcomm Inc.

Now, the company is increasingly marketing its Tegra line of mobile chips as ideal for powering entertainment and navigation systems in cars. In January, Nvidia said it was broadening its relationship with Audi, which plans to use the upcoming Tegra K1 chip in more of its cars.

The Santa Clara, California company is also pushing for its graphics chip technology to be adopted in data centers providing web-based processing power to enterprise customers.

Huang said cloud-computing company VMWare would incorporate Nvidia's technology in its virtualization software, which helps companies save on server and storage costs.

Nvidia recently announced that its Tegra mobile chip and LTE modem would be used in a new version of Microsoft's Surface tablet. A previous version of the Surface using Nvidia chips failed to gain traction with tablets shoppers.

People Asked to Vote on New Space Suits

NASA is asking people to vote on their favorite design for the outer shell of the new Z-2 spacesuit.

While the Z-2 models may descend from their Apollo 13-style ancestors, there are some decidedly 21st Century twists. The "Biomimicry" design, for example, has a reptilian flare; "Trends in Society" has a more everyday look -- at least, as far as spacesuits go; and "Technology" has electroluminescent wire and exposed rotating bearings, among other features.

The Z-2, an upgrade on 2012's Z-1, features a new hard composite upper torso, "providing much-needed long-term durability," according to NASA.

[Source: NASA via https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZWTfyZjGN_4

At the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Microsoft took the lid off its graphics API, DirectX 12. According to the company, developers will have more direct control over their visuals than ever, with more complex scenes and rendering features. And yes, these changes should translate to Xbox One games, in addition to a new focus across multiple platforms.

“Xbox One games will see improved performance and we’ll bring the same API to all Microsoft platforms,” said Microsoft's Anuj Gosalia during the GDC presentation.

Microsoft wants DirectX 12 to exist as a "console-like" API, making it easier for developers to work with higher consistency and predictability. Direct3D 12 will apparently spread performance across multiple cores, lowering overall strain on hardware, and creating an environment where your rig--or PC rig--will have more headroom for running high-end graphics. Microsoft says 40 percent of all DirectX 11 hardware will be ready for DirectX 12 on day one.

Chris Tector of Turn 10 Studios presented a demo of Forza Motorsport 5 running through Direct3D 12 on PC. Tector was quick to point out Direct3D 12 would allow developers to more efficiently handle resources, but it was difficult to see exactly how Direct3D 12 was really impacting the game's performance based on the demo. Overall, the game looked more or less the same as it does on Xbox One.

While GPU manufacturer AMD was present at the presentation--and were adamant DirectX 12 would offer improvements to performance--it's still a bit unclear as to what extent existing AMD graphics cards will take full advantage of DirectX 12. AMD did say its existing customers will "benefit."

Intel vice president Eric Mintzer said 4th-gen Core processors will be ready for DirectX 12 at launch, and the "most important" improvements may affect lower-power Intel CPUs, thanks to improved power management. Additionally, DirectX 12 will be supported on Fermi, Kepler, Maxwell, and future Nvidia architectures, said Nvidia's senior vice president Tony Tomasi.

"Epic will be working closely with NVIDIA and Microsoft to create a world-class implementation of DX12 in Unreal Engine 4," said Epic Games' Tim Sweeney. "DirectX12 is a great step forward, exposing low-level hardware functionality through an industry standard API to give developers more control and efficiency than ever before."

DirectX 12 for Mobile

Interestingly, Qualcomm also gave a presentation extolling the virtues of DirectX 12 for mobile. According to company vice president of engineering Eric Demers, DirectX 12 could be the missing link between console and mobile. “We’re excited to see Xbox and PC titles move into mobile," said Demers.

As far as compatibility across Windows operating systems, Microsoft was a bit coy. While DirectX 12 will not support Windows XP, Windows 7 support is also a little unclear, with Microsoft only saying they weren't "discussing Windows 7 support today." Moreover, Microsoft stated 50 percent of all PC game rigs will be DirectX 12 compatible at launch. A preview of DirectX 12 is due out later this year.

Microsoft wants you to stop using Windows XP. Badly. How badly? They’ll actually give you fifty bucks right now to replace your outdated XP machine.

The push is on to move everyone they possibly can away from XP before pulling the plug on security updates once and for all. Microsoft knows it’s been a great decade-plus for XP, but they’re doing everything they can to get people to upgrade to a supported OS “before it’s too late.” April 8th is the day the patches stop coming.

Microsoft has a few other carrots to dangle, too. If a $50 credit for the Microsoft store was enough to pique your interest, but you’re nervous about making the switch, they’re also offering 90 days of premium support at no extra charge. You can call and chat 24 hours a day if you want, and if you’ve been living with XP that long you might feel like you need that kind of assistance to figure out Windows 8.

There are also plenty of nice Windows desktops and laptops on sale in the Store. You can pick up a touchscreen notebook for as little as $249 — not a high-end one, but plenty of machine for just over $140 more than it would cost to buy Windows 8.1 in a retail box. If you’re looking for a tablet, the 32GB Dell Venue 8 Pro has been marked down to $229 (maybe use the $50 GC to pick yourself up a nice keyboard for it).

And the best part? None of the systems Microsoft sells in their online or brick-and-mortar stores has any of that annoying bloatware you find on retail boxed machines that other big-name stores are selling.

Will the promo actually get anyone to dump XP? Maybe, but since the $50 rebate doesn’t require any kind of proof (like an old XP CD-key) to be provided, the impact will probably be fairly minimal. $229 or $249 is still more than $0, and that’s what some XP users feel like spending on a new computer.