GADGET REVIEWS Just another GADGET NEWS

A new chip could improve error correction in flash memory, and might also lead to more efficient spam filtering and shopping recommendations.

Lyric Semiconductor, a small MIT spinoff, has created an error correction chip that uses a technique called “probability processing” to guess the right answer or solve a problem.

The chip, called LEC, is 30 times smaller in size than current digital error correction technology. That means manufacturers can create higher density chips that offer more storage at lower costs.

“This is not digital computing in the traditional sense,” says Ben Wigoda, founder of Lyric Semiconductor. “We are looking at processing where the values can be between a zero and a one.”

Error rates in flash-based storage are of concern to both consumers and manufacturers.

“The issue with flash is you get higher and higher bit errors as you move to smaller geometry,” says Greg Wong, an analyst with research firm Forward Insights, “so to discern data that is in there you have to use probability type of algorithms.”

Today, one in every thousand bits stored in a flash memory comes out wrong when the memory is read. With the next generation of flash memory, the number of errors is expected to approach one wrong bit out of every hundred.

For consumers, this means a music file that they play from their flash storage disk could sound wrong — or a file could get corrupted. To avoid that, flash memory makers have to use error correction, much of which is currently done using software algorithms.

The problem with software-based solutions is that they use digital signal processing circuits that add to the size of the chip, says Wong.

“This is an area where cost is a very sensitive factor,” he says. “So if you can reduce the size of the circuitry, there’s a big benefit there.”

Despite its tiny size, the Lyric LEC contains “a Pentium’s worth of computation,” says Wigoda.

Story continues.

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

Someday humans and computers will meld together to create cyborgs. But instead of waiting for it, Martin Magnusson, a Swedish researcher and entrepreneur, has taken the first step and created a wearable computer that can be slung across the body.

Magnusson has hacked a pair of head-mounted display glasses and combined it with a homebrewed machine based on a open source Beagleboard single computer. Packed into a CD case and slung across the shoulder messenger-bag style, he is ready to roll.

A computer is a window to the virtual world, says Magnusson.

“But as soon as I get up and about, that window closes and I’m stuck within the limits of physical reality,” he says. “Wearable computers make it possible to keep the window open. All the time.”

Magnusson’s idea is interesting though one step short of integrating a machine inside the body. In 2008, a Canadian film maker Rob Spence decided to embed a tiny video camera into his prosthetic left eye. Spence who is still working on the project hopes to someday record everything around him as he sees it and lifecast it.

For his wearable computer, Magnusson is using a pair of Myvu glasses that slide on like a pair of sunglasses but have a tiny video screen built into the lens. A Beagleboard running Angstrom Linux and a Plexgear mini USB hub that drives the Bluetooth adapter and display forms the rest of this rather simple machine. Four 2700 mAh AA batteries are used to power the USB hub. Magnusson has used a foldable Nokia keyboard for input and is piping internet connectivity through Bluetooth tethering to an iPhone in his pocket.

Magnusson says he wants to use the wearable computer to “augment” his memory.

“By having my to-do list in the corner of my eye, I always remember the details of my schedule,” he says.

Check out photos of his gear:

The innards of the homebrewed machine are glued to a CD case. The CD case is slung across the shoulder by attaching it to a strap using velcro.

What the homebrewed computer looks like:

Photos: Susanna Nilsson

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

A digital book reader could bring information to students in developing countries using a technology that is long past its prime: 8-bit computing.

The Humane Reader, a device designed by computer consultant Braddock Gaskill, takes two 8-bit microcontrollers and packages them in a “classic style console” that connects to a TV. The device includes an optional keyboard, a micro-SD Card reader and a composite video output.

In all, it can hold the equivalent of 5,000 books, including an offline version of Wikipedia, and requires no internet connection. The Reader will cost $20 when 10,000 or more of it are manufactured.

“Everything about it is related to the cost,” says Gaskill. “It’s meant to be an absolute basic system that can deliver Wikipedia and e-books for educational and non-profit use.”

A major driver for this kind of technology is that 8-bit processors are cheap and people in developing countries have greater access to TVs than to computers.

“Hundreds of millions of households have TVs but no access to the internet,” says Gaskill. “I wanted to create a device that uses the display on the TV.”

Gaskill’s Humane Reader is much cheaper than the $99 WikiReader launched last year. (The self-contained, battery-powered WikiReader may be more useful in a zombie invasion, however.)

Over the last few years, a number of initiatives have been trying to bring low-cost computing to students in developing countries. The One Laptop Per Child project, started in 2005, promised a $100 laptop but now sells its device for twice as much. Intel has its own low-cost PC for students called Classmate. Last week, Indian officials showed a prototype $35 tablet targeted at students. All these ideas use the latest display technology and chips to power the devices.

Meanwhile, another group of researchers have been looking at 8-bit computing as an inexpensive way to reach students. Take Playpower, a $12 system that uses a microprocessor favorite from the 1970s, the 8-bit 6502 processor. The system plugs into a TV and comes with a keyboard and a basic game controller.

Gaskill says Playpower is focused on educational games, while the Humane Reader is about giving students a digital encyclopedia.

Next, Gaskill hopes to find partners to help produce and distribute the device.

“Once you put these in the hands of the students, they can not just learn from it but also hack it,” he says. “The combination of a computing platform and a encyclopedia opens up the world to them.”

For electronics hobbyists, Gaskill hopes to sell a tricked-out version of the Humane Reader: the Humane PC. The PC has almost the same specs as the Reader but offers additional features such as a micro-USB port and infrared port. Gaskill estimates the Humane PC’s bill of materials will cost just a few dollars more than the Reader, though he hopes that it will be sold for profit.

Photo: Humane Info

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

A prototype tablet from India that looks similar to the iPad but costs a few hundred dollars less than the magical device is on its way, according to the country’s government officials who showed the device at an event Thursday.

The Linux-based tablet from India is priced at $35 with the potential to drop it to either $20 or $10. The device will support video conferencing, wireless, have open source software on it including Open Office and will include a media player. It will also have a solar power option.

Details about the tablet’s processing power, memory or storage have not been disclosed. It is not clear if the device will have a touchscreen or a pen-based input.

The tablet is expected to go into production in 2011.

The success of Apple’s iPad and the demand among consumers for a slick media consumption tablet has spurred the quest for a low cost device that has the looks of an iPad and the functionality of a laptop. The One Laptop Per Child Project in the U.S. recently announced that it is planning to create a $75 OLPC tablet. But the first version of that tablet is unlikely to be available before the end of next year. OLPC’s current low cost laptop sells for $200.

In March, chip maker Marvell showed a prototype that will offer web access and high-definition content for just $100. The tablet called Moby will be targeted at students, says Marvell, and it will run Marvells ARMADA 600 series of application processors. So far, Marvell’s $100 tablets have yet to go beyond a reference design.

Current estimates on the cost of components show that getting the cost of a device below $100 isn’t easy.

The cheapest version of Apple’s iPad costs $500. A teardown of the iPad shows the bill of materials alone for it is $230. A six-inch black-and-white screen on a Kindle 2 alone costs $60, according to iSuppli.

To create its $35 tablet, the Indian government says it partnered with some of the country’s best technical universities including the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). Students involved in the project created their own motherboard and PCBs for the device, say officials. Interestingly, the government also says private companies in the country showed little interest in the idea.

The bill of materials of a prototype tablet came to $47. But officials didn’t explain how they think that cost can shrink to $35 and lower.

“It could be seen that by customizing the device to the needs of learners across the country, and by utilizing the processor capabilities of the processors suitable for the purpose, it was possible to substantially reduce the prices of such access-cum-computing devices,” a press release from the country’s Press Information Bureau said.

Deciphering that is not easy. Even more puzzling is that the announcement of the tablet did not mention who will be manufacturing the product or how it will be distributed. It is also not clear if the $35 price tag includes a small profit margin or if the product will be sold entirely at cost.

Despite the introduction of the latest tablet with much fanfare, India doesn’t have a history of delivering on its much-hyped promises about electronic devices. For instance, Indian start-up Notion Ink has been promising a tablet for months called Adam that is yet to hit the market. In February 2009, Indian government officials announced a $10 laptop that ultimately proved to be vaporware.

The $35 tablet could go the same way.

Photo: Trak.in

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

<< previous image | next image >>

The fabric of the future won’t be just plain chiffon, silk or cotton. Instead electroluminescent material, microprocessors and LEDs may be woven together with clothing fibers to create smart textiles.

“Clothing can be considered a second skin and by implementing technology in it, you are bringing it into your intimate space,” says Nicky Assmann, an e-textile designer whose work was part of a recent exhibition in the Netherlands. “You are not just carrying technology like a laptop or an iPhone, but wearing it constantly.”

The exhibition, Pretty Smart Textiles, which closed last week, gave a glimpse into what happens when technology meets fashion. Among the exhibits: a dress made entirely of circuit boards that generate music, a garment that uses its wearer’s heartbeat and other sounds from the body and remixes them into music, and a trench coat that reads fabric punch cards and tells stories.

Electronic textiles are outgrowing their geeky reputation, says Melissa Coleman, who with Dorith Sjardijn curated the exhibition.

“The open source hardware movement has allowed for quicker and easier development of electronics and made it accessible to artists and designers,” says Coleman. “The result is that smart textile applications have become more interesting conceptually and aesthetically.”

The exhibition featured 16 works and seven interactive samples.

Most of the artists who showed their work were women. “Electronic textiles appeal more to women than men,” says Sjardijn. “Women who are already in technology find it a nice way to combine the stuff that they find appealing with the more clinical world of technology and programming.”

A Musical Circuit Dress

A dress with 35 old circuit boards stitched together is not for everyone. But Nicky Assmann, who built the dress over a four-month period, says she chose circuit boards as the fabric for her dress because she liked their look.

“There’s a certain aesthetic about them — they have many details and are very systematic, like a grid or a city map,” she says.

The circuit dress is not just clothing but also a musical instrument. The dress is based on the idea of circuit bending, which involves deliberately short-circuiting electronic musical devices to get unexpected noise.

Twelve coils are incorporated into the dress, each of which is played by connecting to one another through copper finger plates. The musical composition results as the fingers explore the dress. There are two speakers on the front of the dress, and the entire dress runs on batteries.

The straps on the dress are made from electric cables that are are used for rewiring the circuit-bended board from the back to the coils to the front. “It’s very functional,” says Assmann, since it solved the problem of where to leave the wires.

Overall, the dress weighs about 20 pounds. Assmann says if she’s practicing for a performance, she can’t wear the dress for more than hour because the straps hurt her shoulders.

Ultimately, the idea of the musical circuit dress is to display what many people consider ugly when it comes to technology: the innards of a device with its circuit boards, the wires and the chips. Assmann, an artist who’s studying for her graduate degree in Music at the Royal Conservatory and Academy in The Hague, says the circuit dress put an aesthetic that’s normally hidden out in the front.

“The unwearability of the dress defines its performance,” says Assmann.

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews