Toshiba said Wednesday that it will showcase a 512GB solid-state drive at the Consumer Electronics Show next month and begin shipments in the second quarter of 2009.
To date, this would be one of the largest-capacity solid-state drives for use in laptops and come close to matching the size of mobile hard-disk drives.
Toshiba said it is releasing a broad family of "fast read/write SSDs" based on 43-nanometer Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND flash technology that will be showcased at CES. MLC technology allows solid-state drive makers to deliver higher capacity drives at lower prices.

The original mouse invention which is now in use on every office and home PC turns 40 next week.

Looking like something that could take your fingers clean off, the wooden block with a single red button on top was unveiled to the world 40 years ago. Douglas Engelbart invented the mouse and worked with Bill English to build the device. In 1967, Engelbart applied for, and in 1970 he received a patent for the wooden shell with two metal wheels.

In 1981, Xerox included a mouse with their Star computer system, and a few years later Apple offered one with their Macintosh system. Microsoft then made it the standard device for their Windows operating system. In time the mouse developed, with a second button then in some cases a third and you can now buy mice with 5 or more buttons.

Unfortunately Engelbart never received any royalties for his mouse invention, partly because his patent expired in 1987, before the PC revolution made the mouse the main input device, and also because subsequent mice used different mechanisms that did not infringe upon the original patent.

Fast forward to 2008 and we have the HP TouchSmart desktop system, Apple’s iPhone and a range of new touchscreen enabled devices that are keeping users away from using the mouse. Microsoft is currently working on Windows 7 which improves the use of touch in Windows.
Steve Prentice, an analyst at Gartner Research, said: "I very much doubt that we’ll be using the mouse in 40 years’ time."

Do you believe that in 40 years time we will no longer require a mouse to interact with PCs or will PCs even exist?

Tighten your seat belts. Data transfer is going into overdrive as the ubiquitous Universal Serial Bus, better known as USB, prepares to make a tenfold jump in speed.

That means the vast sea of USB devices — from HD camcorders to hard drives and music players — will be able to transfer music, video, photos and other data much, much more quickly.

The new standard, the first update to the USB specification in eight years, will also deliver greater power efficiency and the ability to recharge a wider variety of gadgets — and it will most likely mean the death of the competing standard known as FireWire.

To get a sense of the speed increase, consider this: Transferring high-definition video of 27 GB, the amount on a standard Blu-Ray disc, takes about 10 minutes with the current USB 2.0 standard. With USB 3.0, it will take just about a minute.

"What the user will see is really a much faster response time, less waiting, more productivity," says Patrick Moorhead, vice president of advanced marketing at AMD, one of the supporters of the USB 3.0 standard.

The USB Implementers Forum, a non-profit group founded by companies to promote the standard, will announce Monday the final set of specs that will clear the way for the adoption of USB 3.0 by device and component manufacturers. It’s the first major update to USB technology in nearly eight years.

"USB 3.0 will take USB 2.0 to the next level and take away performance as an issue for data transfer in many devices," says Brian O’Rourke, an analyst with research firm In-Stat. "USB 3.0 will make it even more pervasive across devices than it is today."

Since the USB specification was first introduced in 1996, it has changed the way we interact with our computers. USB has allowed everything from keyboards, mouse, PDAs, printers, digital cameras and personal media players — pretty much the entire spectrum of consumer electronics — to be connected to a host PC using a single standardized socket.

Read more @ Wired

Microsoft is deploying tiny sensors throughout its datacenters to capture data that will allow it to better regulate energy consumption and reduce their carbon footprint.

Sensors can also be deployed in the wild to help scientists monitor and track environmental changes. The SenseWeb technology was shown at the PDC 2008 conference.

SensorMap is an application that mashes up sensor data from SenseWeb on a map interface, and provides interactive tools to selectively query sensors and visualize data, along with authenticated access to manage sensors.

This is a pretty interesting project that has lots of applications. The sensor technology needs to be strong enough though to become manageable on the power supply and networking side.

More details about SenseWeb can be found here.

Electronics manufacturers and retail chains are slashing prices of Blu-ray players in a bid to boost adoption of the high-definition movie format, which has yet to catch on with American consumers.

Entry-level Blu-ray players have dropped to below $230 at major retailers including Target Corp.,Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Best Buy Co. Some experts predict that promotional prices may fall below $150 on Black Friday, the big shopping day after Thanksgiving. Earlier this year, most Blu-ray players retailed for $400 or so.

Sales picked up at Best Buy after prices were cut, said Mike Mohan, Best Buy’s senior vice president of consumer electronics. Still, he said, some consumers may not understand the benefits of the technology, which can offer crisper images than standard DVDs when viewed on high-definition TVs. "We have a job to do in explaining to customers why Blu-ray is important," Mr. Mohan said.

Another impediment to Blu-ray adoption: The price of Blu-ray discs, at about $30, is still often twice that of DVDs.

Industry analysts believe stores may have been overly optimistic in ordering Blu-ray players for the holiday season. That’s another factor behind the price cuts, especially since some older models in retailer inventories can’t connect to the Internet, which is necessary to tap interactive features on some Blu-ray discs.

There is another motive for the markdowns. Manufacturers and retailers want to speed the mass adoption of Blu-ray before digital-movie downloads and video on demand overtake movie disc sales and rentals — a looming development that already may be damping sales.

Read more @ WSJ

The "Computer Navy" is here.

Google may take its battle for global domination to the high seas with the launch of its own “computer navy”.

The company is considering deploying the supercomputers necessary to operate its Internet search engines on barges anchored up to seven miles (11km) offshore.

The “water-based data centers” would use wave energy to power and cool their computers, reducing Google’s costs. Their offshore status would also mean the company would no longer have to pay property taxes on its data centers, which are sited across the world, including in Britain.

In the patent application seen by The Times, Google writes: “Computing centers are located on a ship or ships, anchored in a water body from which energy from natural motion of the water may be captured, and turned into electricity and/or pumping power for cooling pumps to carry heat away.”

The increasing number of data centers necessary to cope with the massive information flows generated on popular websites has prompted companies to look at radical ideas to reduce their running costs.

The supercomputers housed in the data centers, which can be the size of football pitches, use massive amounts of electricity to ensure they do not overheat. As a result the Internet is not very green.

Read more @ timesonline.co.uk

From the Times Magazine UK.

Novint Falcon With Pistol Grip Attachment

Behold, the Novint Falcon. This menacing orb has taken upon the lofty task of replacing the mouse as the PC gamer’s preferred implement of destruction, letting you feel, lift, push and grope every bit of the action. It sits on your desk and provides force feedback — but not the vibrating-controller effect that console couch surfers are familiar with. Instead, powerful motors within the device provide a full range of responses, whether you’re bouncing a ball on a string or reloading a shotgun. Because really, what good are advances in technology if we can’t focus them on the obliteration of our gaming peers?

The first version of the Falcon we saw was a bit of a renaissance — well for games like Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 anyway. When gripping the original control interface (a small, multibuttoned round knob), controlling Tiger’s swing becomes a matter of muscle coordination — for better or for worse. In our vain attempts at perfecting our line drives, we hit dozens of shots, each wildly different from the next, by simply adjusting the angle and force with which we moved the knob. Suddenly, following through on a swing becomes incredibly important, as the slightest adjustments to the pressure you apply can wildly alter the ball’s flight.

But chances are, you’re not checking out the Falcon for the fully immersive golfing experience: You want to light shit up with a high-caliber firearm. Well, Novint has got you covered. Using the Falcon’s new Pistol Grip, titles like Half-Life 2 suddenly become an entirely different game.

Forget fragging as you know it. With the pistol grip coming dangerously close to flying out of your hands after a few quick bursts with a submachine gun, you may wonder how you got along without this level of feedback in the first place. Every weapon takes on new life, from the meager jostling of the standard pistol, to the forceful thunder of a rocket launcher’s blast. 

Read more @ wired.com

From Wired.com

The computer chip industry on Friday celebrated the 50th birthday of the integrated circuit, a breakthrough that set the stage for the Internet and the Digital Age.

A half-century ago a young engineer named Jack Kilby first demonstrated an integrated circuit he designed while working through the summer at his Texas Instruments job because he didn’t have enough vacation time for a holiday.

Kilby used a sliver of conductive germanium to connect a transistor and other bits, dubbing the soldered assembly an "integrated circuit" (IC).

Engineer Robert Noyce was designing his own IC "in parallel" at Fairchild Semiconductor but didn’t debut his creation until about six months later. Noyce went on to found US chip making giant Intel in 1968.

While Kilby was the first to demonstrate an IC, Noyce came up with a design that could be mass produced, according to Leslie Berlin, project historian for Stanford Silicon Valley Archives and author of a book about Noyce.

"It was an idea whose time had come," Berlin told AFP. "There were efforts all over the world to make something like an integrated circuit."

History gives Noyce and Kilby shared credit for inventing the circuit that transformed the world of electronics.

Read more @ news.yahoo.com

From Yahoo! News.

As I remember it was the great philosopher Roberto Duran who once exclaimed, "No mas. No mas." Is it time to follow Roberto’s advice or are we still in need of   additional Flash storage? No need to answer just yet, because ready or not, here comes SanDisk doubling CF capacity to 32GB with its Extreme III CompactFlash.

I was all set to explain how 32GB is much too much free space to carry in your pocket until I thought back to my first hard drive–40Mb. That’s not a typo! And that 40Mb was on a system which replaced a computer with nohard drive, just a floppy. It seemed like a lot of room at the time just as the 32GB CompactFlash does now. Don’t be fooled. Build it and they will come. Though SanDisk was thinking of professionals when they designed the Extreme III, its mere availability will undoubtedly affect what comes down the pipe for home shooters. I suppose this is living proof you can never have enough closet space.

If CompactFlash means still photography to you, it’s time to think outside the box. CompactFlash and its pocket size format siblings are now robust enough to replace videotape in high end applications. Thirty-two gigabytes means over 80 minutes of 100 Mbps, 10-bit, 4:2:2 HD video. Until now that was primarily a job for tape whose use brought all the problems associated with mechanical transports. SanDisk touts their temperature specs (minus 13°F to 185°F) because it’s a simple way of pounding home, "We’re not tape." Trading tape for a card means camcorders are simpler, more climate tolerant and (the real deal maker) the video is randomly accessible at every step of the process!

Read more @ pcmag.com

From PC Magazine.

The flash memory market is abuzz as Korean news sources, along with Reuters and Bloomberg, are reporting that Samsung Electronics is thinking about buying SanDisk. A Samsung spokespersn, James Chung, said: "We are considering various opportunities regarding SanDisk but nothing has been decided.”

Korea-based Samsung is the world’s largest NAND Flash memory maker and it pays KRW400bn ($351m) each year in royalties to SanDisk. The Asus Eee PC and the Apple iPhone, for example, use Samsung flash chips. SanDisk owns Flash memory patents and makes Flash-based MP3 players, memory cards and solid-state drives (SSDs). It posted poor results at the end of July, with an unexpected Q2 loss of $68m compared to a $28m profit in the year-ago quarter.

View: The full story @ The Reg