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      Cablevision offering 101Mbps download

      May 3, 2009 /

      Internet ServiceNext week, Cablevision is going to start offering customers download speeds of up to 101 mega bits per second. And while at $99.95 per month it’s not the cheapest internet service, it certainly is the fastest available in the US. Here are some of the details:

      The new service will offer download speeds of 101 megabits per second and upload speeds of 15 Mbps for a cost of $99.95 a month. It will be available May 11 to all 5 million of the people in areas served by Cablevision, mainly in the New York City suburbs.

      Cablevision is deploying a new technology called Docsis 3 which can utilize more of the capacity of a cable television system for data, offering both higher capacity and lower costs. In Japan, J:Com uses the same technology to offer 160 Mbps service for 6,000 yen ($62) a month.

      I can’t say that I’m happy about the pricing but at least the cable companies are moving in the right direction when it comes to speed. For too long other countries have had better, faster, and more reliable internet service. It’s about time our corporate monopoly of ISPs start getting Americans up to speed. Hopefully after the initial investment, they will start lowering prices to compete. Though I’m not holding my breath on that one.

      Computers

      Japanese Dictatorship Starts with Ninjas, Coke Machine

      May 2, 2009 /

      Vending machines will save us all!You’re walking around Tokyo, headed for the subway. You make your way underground when you hear a rumble that can only mean one thing – earthquake. As the ground starts to shake you see exits to the surface blocked by masses of people and tumbling buildings. What to do? You could be trapped here for days! No water, no food, and thousands of people sharing your plight.

      Good thing Coke implemented their emergency vending machine system just weeks earlier. This is just the sort of pickle they planned for; potential victims of dehydration will be saved by vending machines that dispense delicious soda for free in the event of an emergency. You make your way toward the glowing box, but what’s this? A stately business man guards your path, surrounded by ninjas, mercilessly beating back the masses and rationing Cokes to the highest bidder. The clever soda company didn’t see this one coming, now did they?

      News, Uncategorized

      Thin-Film Speakers Could Revolutionize Flat Panels

      May 2, 2009 /

      Say Goodbye to Speakers.When you buy a new TV it almost goes without saying that you’ll need new speakers. LCDs and plasmas gave back the 5-7 square feet that was once dedicated to cathode-ray tubes, but they pushed big built-in speakers out the door. The result: a gorgeous picture with tinny trash for sound.

      Commercial and academic researchers are looking to change all that by putting the speaker in front of your screen. Emo Labs, a startup from Massachusetts, has created transparent membrane that could replace traditional cone speakers. The transparent film lays over your TV display and is then “driven” by two piezo-electric actuators. The actuators create the motion usually produced by a magnetic voice coil to create sound waves.

      As you might imagine, laying a membrane over your picture does have its drawbacks. In its current form, the membrane nets a 4% loss in picture brightness. To be honest, that doesn’t seem so bad, especially as we get closer to the OLED revolution. With a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 4% should hardly be noticeable.

      As for price, you early adopters will see the worst of it. Emo Labs estimates their membranes will add a 10-15% premium onto existing flat-panel prices. For larger TVs, you’d probably be better off putting that money toward a powered subwoofer. For smaller sets, under 27″ perhaps, the membrane could be another way to save space.

      Source: Wired

      Audio, News, Video

      Super Camera Nabs 6M Frames/Second!

      May 1, 2009 /

      Pew Pew Lazorz!Wouldn’t you love to have a camera with a .0000000005 second shutter speed? You could shoot anything in the lowest light imaginable. That’s exactly the speed of the STEAM camera, a new super camera in use by scientists reporting in the journal Nature.

      How does it work? You guessed it, LASERS!!! (Seriously, what can’t lasers do.) The Serial Time-Encoded Amplified iMaging (you see the STEAM, yes?) essentially detects the reflections of lazorz micropulses that are less than a millionth of a millionth of a second long. By reading the 2-D rainbow these reflections project, a detection device can then create an image. The best part of the camera, though, is that the ‘shutter’ can fire continuously, allowing researchers to capture events that are apparently random, or at least so freakishly rare you couldn’t plan for them. One possible application? Watching neurons fire. Awesome.

      Source: BBC

      Cameras, News

      Merlin Offers Remote Health Monitoring

      May 1, 2009 /

      The St. Jude Medical Merlin.net.What do you do when you’re healthy enough to go home but still in need of monitoring? You could turn to an in-home nursing service, but that’s more invasive than most people care to get. St. Jude Medical’s Merlin.net offers a nice solution. The device can remotely monitor any implanted medical device, like a pacemaker.

      By sending updates of an ‘event’ or emergency via text, fax, or email, your doctor could know you’re in distress within seconds, allowing faster response to potentially life-threatening occasions. Merlin also allows medical staff to send short messages to patients. Things like medication reminders and appointment schedules can be sent straight to the device. Merlin has been approved for use in Europe.

      Source: Medgadget

      News

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