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Thursday, October 21, 2010
Diminished Reality: Impressive Video Manipulation In Real-Time (Video)
Scary or cool? This technology developed by a team of researchers at Technische Universität Ilmenau in Germany is probably both. Their so-called “Diminished Reality” system makes it possible to manipulate video in real-time. As opposed to Augmented Reality, which adds virtual objects to real world images, Diminished Reality removes selected objects from video recordings.
The way it works is that first, the object to be eliminated from the footage has to be specified and detected. After that, the system analyzes the immediate surroundings of the object, for example the look of a table it was standing on, and fills out the empty space with that information.
According to the researchers behind this Diminished Reality application, this process just takes a few milliseconds and works both for video streams and static pictures.
This pretty impressive video provides more insight:
Via Chip [GER]
Diminished Reality: Impressive Video Manipulation In Real-Time (Video)
Scary or cool? This technology developed by a team of researchers at Technische Universität Ilmenau in Germany is probably both. Their so-called “Diminished Reality” system makes it possible to manipulate video in real-time. As opposed to Augmented Reality, which adds virtual objects to real world images, Diminished Reality removes selected objects from video recordings.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Apple Will Take A Pass On 4G Networks For The iPhone In 2011— Sorry Verizon and AT&T by Steve Cheney
Back in August I broke the news that Apple was lining up a component purchase of several million chipsets from Qualcomm for a CDMA-powered Verizon iPhone due in January. Last week, over two months later, the Wall Street Journal confirmed this story.
Now that folks are finally celebrating the iPhone’s imminent arrival to Verizon, speculation has shifted to whether the January model will take advantage of Verizon’s “4G” network. 4G (not to be confused with iPhone 4) refers to the fourth generation of cellular standards, and both Verizon and AT&T have publicly released launch plans for 4G networks based on LTE in 2011.
This impending shift from 3G to 4G presents a major inflection point in the reign of the iPhone franchise. Does Apple move to 4G right away, or do they wait for the network to mature? Recall that Apple waited to support 3G for one entire cycle, opting to release the original iPhone on AT&T’s mature 2.5G EDGE network, despite wide availability of 3G by early 2007.
That situation mirrors what is happening now with LTE in 2011, and as these questions become front and center, I have some very interesting news to share about Apple’s plans.
First things first — the iPhone CDMA model due in January won’t support LTE. But here’s where it gets really interesting: sources tell me that the iPhone refresh in mid-2011 won’t support LTE either. Instead, Apple will produce a dual mode iPhone containing 3G flavors of GSM and CDMA, which operates on all carriers worldwide. If this holds true, Apple won’t support the LTE standard until some time in 2012.
A lot of you aren’t going to be very happy with this news, since 4G-enabled Android phones already exist on Sprint’s WiMAX network, and dual-mode LTE-enabled Android phones will start to emerge for use on Verizon’s new network in the first half of next year.
But as we cut through the hype on LTE, I believe Apple’s decision to wait may be the right one. While the carriers are promising LTE as an upgrade path that will drive new applications and higher speeds, the reality is that 4G deployments will take much longer than the carriers are letting on.
Apple doesn’t want to mess with the first generation of LTE chipsets, since they will be bulky and power hungry. Instead, Apple will make a unified model that works across 3G networks on all carriers, and innovate with incredible new features like NFC which mirror what they accomplished with FaceTime on iPhone 4.
Apple simply doesn’t want to be the guinea pig on new LTE networks that aren’t ready for primetime, and Steve Jobs knows not to trust the hype that’s spewed by the carriers on 4G. The truth is that 3G networks have many more years of life, and the transition to LTE will be much slower than the carriers want you to believe (LTE doesn’t even have its voice standard fleshed out yet).
This is why AT&T is upgrading modem cards in its basestations to support the newest flavor of 3G called HSPA+, and it’s why Verizon is rumored to be working hard on Voice over Revision A, which will allow simultaneous data and voice. These upgrades greatly extend the life of 3G networks, and hedge against the transition to LTE. And Apple is pushing the carriers to extend 3G.
So if you’re waiting for an iPhone that works on 4G carrier networks, it’s probably going to be a while. I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more about this story as the months unfold, especially as next summer’s iPhone approaches the “engineering verification test” stage. But based on my knowledge of both the supply chain and networking infrastructure, I feel pretty confident this is the way it’s going to play out.
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Contributor Steve Cheney is an entrepreneur and formerly an engineer & programmer specializing in web and mobile technologies.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Video: System for data transmission via visible light
Transmitting data via light is hardly anything new, but what about sending and receiving information via visible light? Tokyo-based start-up Outstanding Technology is currently working on a system that uses visible LED light for the transmission of data and audio signals.
And because LED lighting may replace both incandescent and fluorescent lighting one day, the company expects “lighting infrastructure to become communication infrastructure” in the near future.
Outstanding Technology’s system makes it possible to set up a PC that accesses the web via LEDs and light receivers alone (see the video embedded below for a demo), for example. The company says in tests, it succeeded in voice transmission over a distance of 13km. Apparently, data transmission speed can reach up to 160Mbps.
Another selling point of the system is that it works with indirect, reflected or scattered light (picked up from a wall, for example) as well. Outstanding Technology is currently trying to monetize its system while trying to make it work underwater, too.
Here’s the video, in which CEO Murayama provides more insight:
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Dear AT&T, I Want Your 3G MicroCell! For Free.
Dear AT&T, Yes, it’s me. Again. But today, rather than just bitching about your service, I have a solution for you. In fact, it’s so obvious, and makes so much sense, that I can’t believe you didn’t think of it. So I’m going to help you out.Today, you announced the nationwide rollout plans for your new 3G MicroCell product. That’s great. It sounds like a great solution for those customers who have poor reception in their home or work environments. I know many of those customers. In fact, just about everyone I know in San Francisco and New York City who has AT&T service is one of the customers. In fact, I’m one of those customers. So yes, I want this device. But seeing as I’ve been paying you about $100-a-month for several years now, I think it’s only fair that you pay for it.
It would be one thing if my service was only poor a few times a year. Hell, maybe I’d even be okay if it were bad a few times a month. But every single day I have some kind of AT&T issue. And many of the aforementioned people I know do too. So rather than making us pay the $150 for this device, why not just send one to every customer living in areas that you yourselves admit has service “below our standards“?
Yes, I know that’s an expensive proposition. But think of what a PR win that would be after months of being dragged through the mud. And is $150 really that much to eat in the long run? Again, we’re paying you nearly that much every single month. And while you may admit that the service isn’t where it should be, I have yet to see a refund check in the mail. Other services, like Netflix, proactively apologize and give refunds when their service fails. You do nothing except promise that things will get better. We’ve been hearing that promise for years now. It hasn’t gotten better.
The only reason I don’t switch carriers is because of the amazing gift you were given: the iPhone. I understand that demand for that device is the reason your network is so terrible. But that’s your problem, not mine.
Following your great performance at SXSW this year (after last year’s disaster), I wondered aloud why you couldn’t do the same thing here that you did there? I understand there are a few reasons (the biggest of which seems to be that it would be more difficult — which to me, seems mainly to mean that it would cost more money), but this seems like a perfect temporary solution. And I’m hardly the only one who thinks so.
So think about it, will you? You have an amazing opportunity to do the right thing here.
Oh, and P.S. I forgot to mention maybe the biggest benefit to you too — because you’re offloading traffic from your large macro-cells to these micro-cells using broadband we already pay for, you’re going to be freeing up a lot of bandwidth, allowing the overall network to improve.
See, it’s a win-win. It just needs to be a free option in the areas where you are currently failing.
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Ask the Readers: How Fast is Your Internet Connection?
The federal government recently announced a broadband initiative that calls for 260 million homes to have 100Mbps Internet connections by the year 2020. This got us wondering, how fast is your current Internet connection?
Photo by roland
![sshot-2010-03-23-[19-07-24]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tmjPJAYUTsZtc_HYTV8VQipymV5JNEA_SbW49zwwhdXeYDmZPf7Y656FVSMdZW8tGc4H-rflHU0LpiOT2Q3zuFQiEdDS8EmMshq3_Yi4fz7eKTbvI-MNo578RXALsLcx0bxqs_rI0HpVoibRIP=s0-d "sshot-2010-03-23-[19-07-24]")
When it comes to the speed of our Internet connection, we all want the maximum possible. The FCC recently announced their National Broadband Plan, which is an initiative to improve the Internet infrastructure in the United States and provide higher speeds to everyone. You’ve also undoubtedly heard the news about Google getting into the mix with their program to bring ultra high-speed fiber broadband to 50,000 users in select cities.
While we wait for those programs to come into fruition, we thought it would be cool to check out what kinds of speeds you’re getting now.
Test Your Internet Connection Speed
There are several sites out there you can use to test your Internet speeds, but probably the best site is Speedtest.net. It’s easy to use, and allows you test download and upload speeds to and from various locations in the US and throughout the world.
![sshot-2010-03-23-[19-55-22]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_u1nhxKODbjSlNrw3OLk7LHWJh12xFxmo5OXl1DhqPqhS7EMvrmEz_bSKgIBxoBiA3lvwsra9l2FvQTxWqEVeDHegiI_kePzYPlCPty1l2J9GJt6Eue70uEohA1rNJq93uDj3BsfMhivQOlnAR_Hg=s0-d "sshot-2010-03-23-[19-55-22]")
If you already know the speeds you’re getting leave a comment and let us know. If you use Speedtest.com, just keep in mind that our comment system won’t allow you to copy their result links, but you can simply tell us what you get in the results. We’re especially interested in the results of those of you who have Verizon FIOS or Comcast’s “Ultra” service. Leave a comment and join in the discussion!
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Tuesday, March 16, 2010
The Digital Storm BlackOPS PC gets the Core i7-980X treatment
These Core i7-980X CPUs are everywhere now. First it was Alienware, then Maingear, now Digital Storm, and there’s still at least one more announcement coming today. But Digital Storm wasn’t satisfied with the standard 3.33GHz on a stock 980X. Oh no, this Core i7 can be cranked all the way to the breakneck speed of 4.44GHz.
Just like the other Core i7-980X systems, this fun doesn’t come cheap. The least expensive option is a $5,642 affair with dual ATI HD 5970 2GB GPUs, 6GB of DDR3 memory, all kept under control by a liquid-cooling system. Of course you can check every option and drive the price above $13k, though.
Fremont, Calif. – (March 16, 2010) – Digital Storm, the predominant name in system integration, proudly announces a hardware update to its Black|OPS gaming systems. Now gamers can configure the Black|OPS machine with Intel’s first consumer hexa-core processor, the Core i7-980X Extreme Edition.
With the addition of the 32nm Core i7-980X processor, also known as Gulftown, gamers can effortlessly run up to 12 computing threads at once, a feat that was once unimaginable. Intel’s’ new processor features an impressive 12MB L3 cache, which helps streamline operation by limiting the number of times the CPU needs to access DDR3 memory. The Core i7-980X has a clock speed of 3.33GHz, making it as fast as any processor Intel has ever created.
“The introduction of a six core processor with hyper threading capabilities is a momentous occasion for gaming enthusiasts,” remarked Rajeev Kuruppu, Digital Storm’s Director of Product Development. “With our TwisterBoost overclocking package, we can overclock the i7-980X to a record breaking 4.4GHz. The results we’ve recorded on our test bench have been nothing short of astounding. I can honestly say that our Black OPS machines with this new CPU resulted in the most impressive gaming experience I’ve ever had.”
Digital Storm’s Black|OPS systems with Intel’s Core i7-980X Extreme Edition are currently available for purchase at www.DigitalStormOnline.com. The Extreme configuration has a base price of $5,642 & each Digital Storm system comes with a 3 year parts and labor warranty, including replacement parts, and lifetime customer support.
It's Time For One Data Plan to Rule All Our Gadgets
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