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Archive for the ‘mobile phones’ category

Mar 17, 2024

Tesla reiterates ease of EV charging for home and during long trips

Posted by in categories: mobile phones, sustainability, transportation

Even if electric cars are already prevalent today, anti-EV narratives are still abounding. Among the most persistent anti-electric vehicle talking points involves the idea that EVs take hours to charge, so those who own them would be stuck waiting several hours waiting for their cars to “fill up.” A recent post from Tesla’s official social media handle debunks these ideas.

Longtime Tesla and electric vehicle owners have noted over the years that EV charging practices are far different from refueling a combustion-powered car. As the electric vehicle maker posted on its official handle on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, charging a Tesla is actually far simpler than expected.

When charging at home through a Wall Connector or Mobile Connector, for example, all Tesla owners need to do is plug in their cars when they pull into their garage. EVs are like gigantic mobile devices, so just like smartphones, they could simply charge their batteries while their owners go about their day. And with the Wall Connector or Mobile Connector, Tesla owners can typically wake up to a fully charged car per day.

Mar 15, 2024

Scientists solve key problem in solid-state batteries

Posted by in categories: mobile phones, sustainability, transportation

A new research in battery technology now promises safer, longer-lasting energy storage. Thanks to a research team tackling a critical issue with solid-state batteries. The researchers have now developed a “bottom electrodeposition” method that changes the game for these next-generation power sources.

Today’s batteries say the ones in our smartphones or electric cars, mostly use liquid electrolytes for shuttling energy. However, these liquids are flammable, which obviously factors into safety concerns, even though they are minimal in today’s modern processes.

Mar 13, 2024

Bear Robotics, a robot waiter startup, just picked up $60M from LG

Posted by in categories: mobile phones, robotics/AI

LG Electronics may no longer be a household name in smartphones, but it still sees a big future in gadgets like robots. Today, the company confirmed a $60 million investment in Bear Robotics, the California startup that makes artificial intelligence–powered server robots (autonomous tray towers on wheels that are meant to replace waiters) for restaurants and other venues. With the investment, LG Electronics becomes Bear’s largest shareholder.

Bear’s last fundraise in 2022 valued the company at just over $490 million post-money, per PitchBook data. It’s not clear what the valuation is for this latest investment, but the last year has not been a great one for startups in the space.

On the other hand, the current vogue for all things AI, and the general advances that are coming with that, are giving robotics players a fillip — see yesterday’s Covariant news, for another example. Still, it’s not clear what Bear hopes to tackle next with the basic trays-on-wheels form factor that it has adopted for its flagship Servi robots.

Mar 13, 2024

Radical New Discovery Could Double The Speed of Existing Computers

Posted by in categories: computing, information science, mobile phones

Imagine your laptop running twice as fast without any hardware upgrades; only the application of smarter software algorithms. That’s the promise of new research that could change how today’s devices function.

The team behind the research, from the University of California, Riverside (UCR), says that the work has huge potential, not just for boosting hardware performance but also increasing efficiency and significantly reducing energy use.

Referred to as simultaneous and heterogeneous multithreading (SHMT), the innovative process takes advantage of the fact modern phones, computers, and other gadgets usually rely on more than one processor to do their thinking.

Mar 11, 2024

Google prepares to release built-in satellite messaging feature, could be included in Android 15

Posted by in category: mobile phones

An alternative satellite messaging service was spotted in the latest beta version of Android 14, and it may be included in Android 15.

According to an Android Authority report, the Android beta now shows a new “Satellite Messaging” page that states users can “send and receive text messages by satellite as part of an eligible account.” Next is a button that users can tap once it arrives to add the feature to their mobile plan.

In terms of functionality, users can take advantage of it when they don’t have a cellular or Wi-Fi connection. In addition to emergency services, users can contact anyone they know. It is claimed that the antennas would support 2 to 4MB of data transmission per cell area.

Mar 9, 2024

Kuo: Apple actively working on 20.3-inch foldable MacBook

Posted by in categories: futurism, mobile phones

We’ve been hearing a lot of rumors about Apple working on multiple foldable devices. While most of them refer to devices similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has now reported that Apple has been actively working on a foldable MacBook.

Details about this future foldable MacBook are unclear at this point. However, Kuo says that the device will have a 20.3-inch screen. According to the analyst, this new MacBook is Apple’s only foldable device “with a clear development schedule,” suggesting that the company’s plans to launch a foldable iPhone or iPad are still quite experimental.

“Recently, I’ve received many inquiries about whether Apple plans to mass-produce the foldable iPhone or iPad in 2025 or 2026. My latest survey indicates that currently, Apple’s only foldable product with a clear development schedule is the 20.3-inch MacBook, expected to enter mass production in 2027,” https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1765563986089783322″ target=“_blank” rel=“noreferrer noopener”>Kuo said in a post on X.

Mar 9, 2024

20.3-inch foldable MacBook expected in 2027

Posted by in category: mobile phones

A new leak suggests Apple’s only foldable with a development schedule and release is a 20.3-inch MacBook that would enter mass production in 2027.

Apple’s first foldable could be a MacBook instead of an iPad or iPhone. Save your jokes — we already know the MacBook folds shut with hinges.

A post on X from Ming-Chi Kuo states that rumors around Apple mass producing a foldable iPhone or iPad by 2026 are not accurate. Instead, Apple’s only foldable with a development scheduled is a 20.3-inch MacBook due in 2027.

Mar 7, 2024

Built for AI, this chip moves beyond transistors for huge computational gains

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, mobile phones, robotics/AI

The new hardware reimagines AI chips for modern workloads and can run powerful AI systems using much less energy than today’s most advanced semiconductors, according to Naveen Verma, professor of electrical and computer engineering. Verma, who will lead the project, said the advances break through key barriers that have stymied chips for AI, including size, efficiency and scalability.

Chips that require less energy can be deployed to run AI in more dynamic environments, from laptops and phones to hospitals and highways to low-Earth orbit and beyond. The kinds of chips that power today’s most advanced models are too bulky and inefficient to run on small devices, and are primarily constrained to server racks and large data centers.

Now, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has announced it will support Verma’s work, based on a suite of key inventions from his lab, with an $18.6 million grant. The DARPA funding will drive an exploration into how fast, compact and power-efficient the new chip can get.

Mar 3, 2024

David Eagleman, investigator of the secrets of our minds

Posted by in categories: food, law, mobile phones, neuroscience

Nothing of the mind is foreign to David Eagleman, neuroscientist, technologist, entrepreneur and one of the most interesting scientific writers of our time. Born in New Mexico 52 years ago, he now researches cerebral plasticity, synesthesia, perception of time and what he called neurolaw, the intersection of the brain’s knowledge and its legal implications. His 2011 book Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain has been translated into 28 languages, and he returned to publishing with Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain, which focuses on a fundamental idea for today’s neuroscience: that the brain is constantly changing to be able to adapt to experience and learning. The science he brings to us isn’t merely top-notch, but firsthand, and his brilliant, crystal-clear writing — a perfect reflection of his mind — turns one of the most complex subjects of modern-day research into food for thought for the interested reader. We spoke with him in California by videoconference, the first interview that he’s given to a Spanish publication in a decade.

Could a newborn brain learn to live in a five-dimensional word? “We don’t actually know which things are pre-programmed and how much is experiential in our brains,” he replies. “If you could raise a baby in a five-dimensional world, which, of course, is unethical to do as an experiment, you might find that it’s perfectly able to function in that world. The general story of brain plasticity is that everything is more surprising than we thought, in terms of the brain’s ability to learn whatever world it drops into.”

Eagleman pulls out a sizable bowl of salad from somewhere, scoops a forkful into his mouth and continues his argument: “The five-dimensional world is hypothetical, but what we do see, of course, is that babies dropping into very different cultures around the planet, whether that’s a hyper-religious culture or an atheist culture, whether it’s a culture that lives on agriculture or a culture that is super technically advanced like here in Silicon Valley, the brain has no problem adjusting. My kids, when they were very young, could operate an iPad or cell phone just as easily as somebody growing up in a different place would operate farming equipment. So, we do know that brains are extremely flexible.”

Mar 2, 2024

Groundbreaking New Tiny Power Converters Run on Vibrational Energy

Posted by in categories: computing, mobile phones

Scientists from the University of California San Diego and CEA-Leti have created a revolutionary piezoelectric-based DC-DC converter that unifies all power switches onto a single chip to increase power density. This new power topology, which extends beyond existing topologies, blends the advantages of piezoelectric converters with capacitive-based DC-DC converters.

The power converters the team developed are much smaller than the huge, bulky inductors currently used for this role. The devices could eventually be used for any type of DC-DC conversation, in everything from smartphones, to computers, to server farms and AR/VR headsets.

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