Drones have become an integral part of any defence establishment. Whether it’s for surveillance or for warfare, armed forces across the world are spending tons of money developing drones that are capable for any situation in the war zone. The US Navy has two new ones, the X-47B series carrier-based unmanned aircrafts. The UAVs have been named as “Salty Dog 501” and “Salty Dog 502”. The “Salty Dog 502” has achieved a tremendous feat in the UAV industry by being the first drone to refuel itself in the air. Yes, military UAVs in the past have managed to do the activity but the Salty Dog 502 did this without any manual input from a pilot on the ground.
As you can see from the image above, the Salty Dog 502 X-47B UAV is trying to grab the fuel line from a refuelling aeroplane belonging to Omega Air Refuelling, a US Department of Defence contractor that modifies Boeing 707s into airtankers. Since the drone can refuel in air, it does not have the miserable range anymore. It can be used for extended long-range missions with ease. Ars Technica points out the fact that the X-47B is one of the few drones that are not flown by a pilot with remote controls; it is guided by commands from an application running on a desktop computer.
With this feat, you might think that these new drones will be commissioned into service but sadly they will be heading into retirement very soon. Even though they have completed only 20% of the potential test flights, the US Navy will be making them into museum exhibits. The reason for this decision is the US Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Launched Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) combat drone. The aforementioned drones have different sizes and performance as compared to the UCLASS drones and thus cannot be inducted into the fleet. No worries though, because the technology used in these drones will be incorporated into UCLASS drones in the future.
Monday, 20 April 2015
Ultrathin Paper Microphone Gains Energy From Your Speech
Your words may not motivate anyone, but they can certainly fill an ultrathin paper microphone with energy. A team of researchers from the Georgia Tech Institute of Technology have developed a rollable, 125 μm thin, paper-based triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) that can harvest energy from your speech and deliver a maximum power density of 121 mW/m2. What's more important is that this paper-microphone can be used in commercial grade mobile phones to supply some additional power to your device.
Zhong Wang and his colleagues created this paper-microphone using a paper sheet about the size of a postage stamp. They developed an array of tiny holds on the paper using sophisticated lasers and coated it with copper on one side. The paper sheet was then laid over a sheet of teflon and joined it on one of the edges. Sound waves passing through the sheets causes them to vibrate differently and contact each other. This vibration creates an electric charge which can be used to charge a capacitor at the rate of 0.144 V/s.
Image Credit: ACS Nano
The research team says that their concept can be adopted in variety of applications to harvest sound energy. For example the technique can be used in wearable gadgets, military equipments, in jet engines to reduce noise and even a budget-friendly human ear implant. The research was published in ACS Nano Publication. Do check out the source link for further information.
Zhong Wang and his colleagues created this paper-microphone using a paper sheet about the size of a postage stamp. They developed an array of tiny holds on the paper using sophisticated lasers and coated it with copper on one side. The paper sheet was then laid over a sheet of teflon and joined it on one of the edges. Sound waves passing through the sheets causes them to vibrate differently and contact each other. This vibration creates an electric charge which can be used to charge a capacitor at the rate of 0.144 V/s.
Image Credit: ACS Nano
The research team says that their concept can be adopted in variety of applications to harvest sound energy. For example the technique can be used in wearable gadgets, military equipments, in jet engines to reduce noise and even a budget-friendly human ear implant. The research was published in ACS Nano Publication. Do check out the source link for further information.
50 Years Of Moore's Law And The Future Of Integrated Circuits
On April 19th, Gordon E. Moore, a young electrical engineer from California who worked for 'Fairchild Semiconductor' in Mountain View, published a paper that has been the inspiration behind the eye-blinding evolution of the computing industry. Contrary to the popular belief that the original paper talked about the number of transistors installed on an Integrated Circuit will double every two years; it wasn't until 1975 that this idea actually emerged. At the best, we can say that the 1965 paper gave rise to the concept of Moore's Law.
The original paper talks about the relation between manufacturing costs per component and the number of components per integrated circuit. Moore looked at what his company was working on and while the chips being shipped had about 8 components, he knew that FairChild engineers were already working on chips with 16, 30 and even 60 components per IC.
Moore's prediction has largely held up for decades. The roots of the electronics industry are in Chemistry; and Moore himself has a PhD in Chemistry. Moore explains that the innovations in material formation has lead to unimaginable progress. The computing industry has seen growth not only in the transistor density, but also with the semiconductor manufacturing progress. In Moore's times, a 2" silicon wafer was 'top-end' and today's engineers are already working on 18" versions. The overall result is that the cost of creating transistors has been reduced by 1 billion times. Moore notes that the number of transistors existing on planet Earth has already surpassed the number of ants and is already the highest-volume product in the entire history of humans.
Moore's law, however, may not hold true as the industry hits the physical limits. The 14 nm Chips (Intel Broadwell) are already hitting the edge and with components so close, the heat escaping has become a problem. The chip manufacturers are now working on new materials and techniques like quantum tunneling to keep up with Moore's law.
Do let us know your views. We look forward to your participation in following relevant discussions on CrazyEngineers:
Source: ExtremeTech
The original paper talks about the relation between manufacturing costs per component and the number of components per integrated circuit. Moore looked at what his company was working on and while the chips being shipped had about 8 components, he knew that FairChild engineers were already working on chips with 16, 30 and even 60 components per IC.
Moore's prediction has largely held up for decades. The roots of the electronics industry are in Chemistry; and Moore himself has a PhD in Chemistry. Moore explains that the innovations in material formation has lead to unimaginable progress. The computing industry has seen growth not only in the transistor density, but also with the semiconductor manufacturing progress. In Moore's times, a 2" silicon wafer was 'top-end' and today's engineers are already working on 18" versions. The overall result is that the cost of creating transistors has been reduced by 1 billion times. Moore notes that the number of transistors existing on planet Earth has already surpassed the number of ants and is already the highest-volume product in the entire history of humans.
Moore's law, however, may not hold true as the industry hits the physical limits. The 14 nm Chips (Intel Broadwell) are already hitting the edge and with components so close, the heat escaping has become a problem. The chip manufacturers are now working on new materials and techniques like quantum tunneling to keep up with Moore's law.
Do let us know your views. We look forward to your participation in following relevant discussions on CrazyEngineers:
- Is there a limit to Moore's Law?
- Electronics Development and Moore's Law
- Is it necessary to keep up with Moore's Law?
Source: ExtremeTech
Google Project Loon Update: Thousands Of Balloons Are Getting Ready!
Google's Project Loon, as you may already know, is an ambitious project to deliver the Internet around the world using tens of thousands of balloons floating in the sky. According to the latest video from Google (embedded below), Google's Mike Cassidy (in-charge of the project) says that Google's using its own manufacturing facility and automated systems to deliver a balloon in hours instead of days. He further says that the company is now ready to launch thousands of balloons in the Sky.
Google's conducting trials of the Project Loon project with leading service providers like Telstra in Australia, Telefonica in Latin America and Vodafone in New Zealand. Google's been working on this project for the last few years and is now confident of launching the project.
Google's experiments have revealed that the balloons can stay afloat in the sky, at an altitude way above the passenger gets fly, for up to 6 months. Google's developed software systems and hardware that can keep real-time track of the balloons and predict where the balloons can be retrieved from. In addition, the company claims to have developed a very reliable launch system for the balloons. Cassidy further said that with the new automated crane system, Google can now launch dozens of balloons every day.
Google's not talked about the commercials so far and how the end users will access the Internet. Google will deliver the Internet using the existing service providers. Cassidy said that the vision for the project is to make the Internet available to anyone with an Internet ready smartphone. Do check out the video released by Google below and let us know your thoughts.
Source: PCWorld
Google's conducting trials of the Project Loon project with leading service providers like Telstra in Australia, Telefonica in Latin America and Vodafone in New Zealand. Google's been working on this project for the last few years and is now confident of launching the project.
Google's experiments have revealed that the balloons can stay afloat in the sky, at an altitude way above the passenger gets fly, for up to 6 months. Google's developed software systems and hardware that can keep real-time track of the balloons and predict where the balloons can be retrieved from. In addition, the company claims to have developed a very reliable launch system for the balloons. Cassidy further said that with the new automated crane system, Google can now launch dozens of balloons every day.
Google's not talked about the commercials so far and how the end users will access the Internet. Google will deliver the Internet using the existing service providers. Cassidy said that the vision for the project is to make the Internet available to anyone with an Internet ready smartphone. Do check out the video released by Google below and let us know your thoughts.
Xiaomi Mi Note Black Edition Can Be Bought For $400
Xiaomi Mi Note Black' is a premium edition smartphone that will lighten your pocket by $400 (approx ~ Rs. 25000), which is a bit pricey considering that the basic model Mi Note 4G's price is just Rs. 9999 in India. An advanced version called Mi Note Pro priced at $540.00 (~ Rs. 33,000) has arrived along with it. It seems that the Chinese mega brand is on a spree of launching different editions of its super popular smartphone Mi Note as it sees that people are willing to pay extra to make the phone suit their style quotient. After announcing the arrival of Mi Note Bamboo Edition and Mi Pink Edition earlier this month, we weren't expecting any big announcements about Mi Note. Much to our surprise, the company launched two new variants - Mi Note Black Edition and Mi Note Pro. Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun confirmed that the phone will go live on May 6. Let's find out the specifications and features of both these new phones and see if their price is justified.
Mi Note Black
Now Mi Note Black is a limited edition variant that will come with famous Chinese singer Jason Zhang's 10th album out-of-the-box in an exclusive black packaging. Only 30,000 units of the smartphone will be available for flash sale in China. The phone's specifications are the same as Mi Note, in that there's a 5.7-inch full HD display screen (1080×1920 pixels) with 3D curved Gorilla Glass 3, 4G LTE support, 3000 mAh battery, Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 2.5GHz processor, Adreno 330 GPU, 13 megapixel rear camera, 4 megapixel front snapper, 3GB RAM and 16GB internal storage.
Mi Note Pro
As against this, the Xiaomi Mi Note Pro has a bundle full of advanced features and anyone looking for high-end specs should definitely check this one out. Featuring a 2560x1440p 2K Sharp/JDI screen that has a pixel density of 515 pixels per inch, Mi Note Pro is powered by a 64bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 OCTA-core processor and Adreno 430 GPU. Running on a 4GB LPDDR4 RAM and a 64GB ROM, the phone's rear end camera has a 13 MP sensor and is capable of capturing 4128 x 3096 pixel resolution images with autofocus and dual-LED along with 2160 pixel HD videos. The one on the front meant for capturing selfies doesn't disappoint either. It has a 4 MP 1/3'' sensor size, 2µm pixel size lens with ability to capture 1080p images & videos.
That's all about the feature highlights of both these phones that you ought to know before jumping to make the purchase. Among the other limited edition smartphones that were launched this year, we found theBlackberry Passport Gold & Black and the OPPO R5 Gilded variant rather interesting. There is no news about whether or not these Xiaomi phones will be launched in India. Nevertheless, the company's upcoming event in Delhi is going to attract large audience.
What are your thoughts about the two new Xiaomi Note smartphone variants? Share with us in comments below.
Mi Note Black
Now Mi Note Black is a limited edition variant that will come with famous Chinese singer Jason Zhang's 10th album out-of-the-box in an exclusive black packaging. Only 30,000 units of the smartphone will be available for flash sale in China. The phone's specifications are the same as Mi Note, in that there's a 5.7-inch full HD display screen (1080×1920 pixels) with 3D curved Gorilla Glass 3, 4G LTE support, 3000 mAh battery, Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 2.5GHz processor, Adreno 330 GPU, 13 megapixel rear camera, 4 megapixel front snapper, 3GB RAM and 16GB internal storage.
Mi Note Pro
As against this, the Xiaomi Mi Note Pro has a bundle full of advanced features and anyone looking for high-end specs should definitely check this one out. Featuring a 2560x1440p 2K Sharp/JDI screen that has a pixel density of 515 pixels per inch, Mi Note Pro is powered by a 64bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 OCTA-core processor and Adreno 430 GPU. Running on a 4GB LPDDR4 RAM and a 64GB ROM, the phone's rear end camera has a 13 MP sensor and is capable of capturing 4128 x 3096 pixel resolution images with autofocus and dual-LED along with 2160 pixel HD videos. The one on the front meant for capturing selfies doesn't disappoint either. It has a 4 MP 1/3'' sensor size, 2µm pixel size lens with ability to capture 1080p images & videos.
That's all about the feature highlights of both these phones that you ought to know before jumping to make the purchase. Among the other limited edition smartphones that were launched this year, we found theBlackberry Passport Gold & Black and the OPPO R5 Gilded variant rather interesting. There is no news about whether or not these Xiaomi phones will be launched in India. Nevertheless, the company's upcoming event in Delhi is going to attract large audience.
What are your thoughts about the two new Xiaomi Note smartphone variants? Share with us in comments below.
Facebook Asks, "How Do You Pronounce Your Name?"
It is a well known fact that the social networking website Facebook wants to know your personal information with the minutest detail. Leaving up to its name, the internet giant has come up with a new feature that lets users share how they want their name to be pronounced. Since the feature hasn't been made available to users worldwide, it was highly probable that it is just an experiment the Facebook engineers are toying with. However, the Facebook team confirmed to Yahoo Tech saying that they are currently testing it only for a handful of English speakers in the U.S. Among the users who could see the Facebook's name pronounce feature on their profiles, it was a Twitter user RinRi who posted a screenshot of it. Take a look -
The pronunciation of the name will be displayed on the user's profile in text as well as audio format. So anyone on your friends list can click and check how to pronounce your name correctly. To set the feature, users need to go to the 'About' tab on their profile and then find an option that reads 'Details About You'. After clicking on it, Facebook will ask, "How do you say your name?". The social network displays a list of possible pronunciation options, as well as button to play a sample audio clip. If from the pre-defined choices, none matches yours, you can type in a new pronunciation key.
The move might be a part of Facebook's aim to deliver a more personalised experience to its users. Many a times, we know some people via Facebook and have known them for years without meeting them ever. In Asian countries, it gets very difficult to pronounce a person's name correctly, owing to vast differences in our languages. It seems that the feature might actually be useful for Facebook users in India.
What are your thoughts about the Facebook pronounce feature? Share with us in comments below.
The pronunciation of the name will be displayed on the user's profile in text as well as audio format. So anyone on your friends list can click and check how to pronounce your name correctly. To set the feature, users need to go to the 'About' tab on their profile and then find an option that reads 'Details About You'. After clicking on it, Facebook will ask, "How do you say your name?". The social network displays a list of possible pronunciation options, as well as button to play a sample audio clip. If from the pre-defined choices, none matches yours, you can type in a new pronunciation key.
The move might be a part of Facebook's aim to deliver a more personalised experience to its users. Many a times, we know some people via Facebook and have known them for years without meeting them ever. In Asian countries, it gets very difficult to pronounce a person's name correctly, owing to vast differences in our languages. It seems that the feature might actually be useful for Facebook users in India.
What are your thoughts about the Facebook pronounce feature? Share with us in comments below.
LG G4 Specifications Revealed in Leaks ahead of the April 28 Release Date
Every major thing you want to know about the new flagship phone LG G4 is out in the open. As a part of weekly Gadget Roundup, we sought all the details that there are to know about the latest phone from the South Korean tech-giant. LG Corporation's G4 is the successor to LG G3 which made its debut in India (Asia), Europe and Middle East last year in the month of June. The power packed phone was quite a hit among LG fans as it came with many kickass features. Ever since, LG G4 has been making rounds of tech news portals as the phone many were looking forward to. With an official release date set on April 28th, several leaks were definitely part of the game. And this time, we got a full reveal on what features and specs to expect from the new LG flagship device. Let's take a look.
Sporting a 5.5 inch QHD (2560 x 1440 resolution) IPS quantum display, the LG G4 comes with a Slim Arc Design and a 8.9 mm body - both features introduced to give the user a comfortable, firm grip. Taking about the design, the most prominent feature of the phone is its rear end which sports genuine leather, a feature that only the limited edition smartphones come with. It goes without saying that the leather variant will be priced much higher than the basic variant. The LG Quick Circle case that comes with a window to let the user view notifications while the cover is closed, may also be seen making a return with the G4. Here's what the leather variant looks like -
Moving on to what's beneath the body, well, the rumour mongers suggest that 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor (Dual-core ARM Cortex A57 & Quad-core A53) and Adreno 418 GPU will be the ones to power the phone. A 3 GB RAM might as well be on the specs list alongside 32 GB ROM with microSD card support. Though there's no word about the phone's cameras, there are speculations about a 16MP rear snapper with f/1.8 aperture with HD video recording support and an 8 MP front-facing lens.
An user-replaceable 3,000mAh battery will accompany the phone and the company has confirmed that the phone will be offered with various flip covers to be bought as a separate accessory, available in various colour options. Last but not the least, the LG G4 is confirmed to appear with the latest Android OS version 5.1 Lollipop .
That's all we know about the new LG smartphone so far. We will know more about LG G4's pricing and availability on the launch date. So, stay tuned for further updates.
Sporting a 5.5 inch QHD (2560 x 1440 resolution) IPS quantum display, the LG G4 comes with a Slim Arc Design and a 8.9 mm body - both features introduced to give the user a comfortable, firm grip. Taking about the design, the most prominent feature of the phone is its rear end which sports genuine leather, a feature that only the limited edition smartphones come with. It goes without saying that the leather variant will be priced much higher than the basic variant. The LG Quick Circle case that comes with a window to let the user view notifications while the cover is closed, may also be seen making a return with the G4. Here's what the leather variant looks like -
Moving on to what's beneath the body, well, the rumour mongers suggest that 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor (Dual-core ARM Cortex A57 & Quad-core A53) and Adreno 418 GPU will be the ones to power the phone. A 3 GB RAM might as well be on the specs list alongside 32 GB ROM with microSD card support. Though there's no word about the phone's cameras, there are speculations about a 16MP rear snapper with f/1.8 aperture with HD video recording support and an 8 MP front-facing lens.
An user-replaceable 3,000mAh battery will accompany the phone and the company has confirmed that the phone will be offered with various flip covers to be bought as a separate accessory, available in various colour options. Last but not the least, the LG G4 is confirmed to appear with the latest Android OS version 5.1 Lollipop .
That's all we know about the new LG smartphone so far. We will know more about LG G4's pricing and availability on the launch date. So, stay tuned for further updates.
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