MAGIC: ANDROID BECOMES BLACKBERRY

According to RIM (makers of blackberry), the BBM for android and iOS is set to be available this september.
In recent press release, Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice President for BBM at BlackBerry said:

“BBM is a very engaging messaging service that is simple to use, easy to personalize and has an immediacy that is necessary for mobile communications. With more than a billion Android, iOS, and BlackBerry smartphones in the market, and no dominant mobile instant messaging platform, this is absolutely the right time to bring BBM to Android and iPhone customers.”

BBM features for Android and iOS :

BBM is set to have some amazing features for Android and iOS. this features include,

• BBM Chat – Enjoy real, immediate conversations with friends on Android, iPhone and BlackBerry smartphones. Not only does BBM let you know that your message has been delivered and read, it also shows you that your friend is responding to the message.
More than chat – With BBM you can share files on your phone such as photos and voice notes, all in an instant.
• Keep your group in the loop – Multi-person chats are a great way to invite contacts to chat together. BBM Groups lets you invite up to 30 friends to chat together, and go a step further than multi-chat by sharing photos and schedules. And, with Broadcast Message, you can send a message out to all your BBM contacts at once.
• Post Updates and stay in the know – BBM lets you post a personal message, profile picture and your current status, and lets your contacts know instantly in Updates.
• Your unique PIN – Every BBM user has a unique PIN that maintains your privacy, so you don’t have to give out your phone number or email address to a new or casual contact.

Availability

BBM will be available as a free download for Android smartphones running Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean (Android 4.x) beginning at 7AM EDT on September 21. BBM for iPhones running iOS 6 and iOS 7 will become available for each market on the App Store schedule of 12:01 AM local time on September 22. For more information, or to download BBM for Android or iPhone, visit www.BBM.com.

BBM will continue to evolve quickly. Later this year, BBM Channels will provide a forum for active, real conversations between you and the people, brands, celebrities, artists, service providers, communities and more, that matter to you. By creating a Channel, individuals and brands can engage their friends and communities in conversations sparked by their thoughts, ideas and passions. Subscribing to a Channel will let you join conversations with people who share your interests. In addition, BBM Video calling and BBM Voice calling are planned for availability for Android and iPhone in a future version.

While some of you are no strangers to BBM, many will be new and might be asking: What is BBM? Below, you’ll find all the highlights for BBM for Android and iPhone.

GOOGLE GLASS: the next step to technology evolution

This is the future that Google and a growing group of investors see as the potential next generation of computing. A contextual, post-desktop world where human-computer interaction and access to information is thoroughly integrated into everyday objects and activities. This is a future where you are the center of a ubiquitous computing experience. No longer is a device merely a smart object in your pocket. Instead it’s a cognitive prosthesis, an extension to you, enabling a computing environment where each experience is uniquely tailored to your preferences, habits and personality. Does this sound like science fiction? It may not be thanks to Google’s new wearable computer called “Google Glass.”

The idea of a wearable Heads-Up Display that enables an augmented reality is not a new one. But recently, a few factors have converged to make this type of device much more feasible for the broader consumer market. First, and possibly most importantly, are the economies of scale brought about by the rise of smart phones. The massive volume of smart phones being manufactured and shipped have lowered the costs and size associated with the components needed for the wholesale manufacture of these devices. Combined with the acceptance of a mobile and always-connected world, wearable computing has reached a point where it may no longer be viewed as a strange and futuristic concept.

Along with the rise of various web-connected devices, we have become accustomed to augmenting our reality with various forms of real-time information. Today, most people carry a mobile device with them at all times. The next generation of wearable devices is looking to take our computing experience to the next level. These devices are less about being a smart accessory and more about the collection and display of contextual information. Where the location and specifics of a users ever-changing environment directly effects how we experience the world around us. This new generation of wearable devices, like Google Glass, may help to redefine the rules and inter-relationships between ‘The Network of Things’ by combining with the local processing of information with the instant use of a global cloud of computing resources readily available to instantly make sense out of it all.


Taking the concept a step further, with technology from companies like Toronto based InteraXon, your translated brainwaves may soon be the only thing required to control anything electric. The company’s Muse headset measures your brainwaves in real-time, sending those brainwaves to your smart phone or tablet showing you how well your brain is performing. The technology translates your brainwaves into instructions to interact with content on your iOS or Android device. InteraXon says its technology makes the experience so seamless that it seems like an extension of your own body. Now imagine for a moment, Google Glass combined with this type of mind control technology? You think, how many nails in that fence? You instantly know, 1200. How many rooms in that hotel? 322. When’s the next train? In 5 minutes.

For some, the idea of our cybernetic future where technology is directly integrated into our very being is too much to consider. But, let’s consider for a moment that human integrated technology of various types is already common. From heart pacemakers to insulin pumps, contact lenses, hearing aids, and intraocular lenses, humans are already being fitted with technology to enhance their biological capabilities and have been for a while. But for the most part, these modifications are as cybernetic as using a pen or having a wooden leg and, further, they are generally not connected to anything beyond our bodies. Adding network connectivity into the mix greatly increases the potential of the technology and could form the basis of a new level human / computer interaction.

NEW GADGET: the new emopulse smartphone bracelet

Every day the market there are sophisticated gadgets with new and useful functions. Among these is the world’s first smartphone from the company «EmoPulse», called «The Smile». Smartphone wristband is attached to the wrist, and in addition to the standard functions of the phone also monitors the health status of its owner.
What is able to do this smart gadget?
The gadget boasts a truly the amazing specifications for its modest size, but its main purpose is not a phone function, and monitoring the health of the user and the food they consume.
The device will be able to tell,you are tired or not, calm or nervous, whether you continue to walk or run or better to rest unwind. In addition, the phone will keep track of your diet, and even remind you when it’s time to go to bed. Think,that all? Certainly not, «The Smile» continues to work even in a dream. At night when you are asleep, the device will track the resting phase of your body, block incoming calls and even raise the status of "sleep" in the social network facebook. In simple terms it is your personal assistant,that is always with you!
Here also integrated special chip that acts as a debit card, with which you can pay for purchases in stores. The only thing to do,advance stating the number of your card and,raising a hand with bracelet to the terminal,at the checkout you will be able to quickly and conveniently pay a shopping.



Technical Specifications EmoPulse Smile include 2 GB of RAM, 128 or 256GB drive on the structure, support 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, GPS and FM-radio. On board there are also connectors USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt, the camera has a 9-megapixel resolution, and the interface is displayed on a 2.0-inch FOLED-display.
How does it work?
The Smile bracelet functions may seem unreal. They are based on leading-edge AI algorithms-based operating system.
The system uses data gathered by emo-sensors to enhance the self-learning process. |Because of this, The Smile can learn 7-8 times faster than any other system. Completes the fantastic price tag indicators: pre-order the 128-gigabyte version can be issued only for $ 300.
Over time the bracelet will become an indispensable assistant.
Not all smartphones can boast such figures, and only on the smart watch EmoPulse Smile can see such the technical performance, and at a modest price. This is more than strange. It is not a lie?

Nuclear bomb tests reveal brain regeneration in humans

Nuclear bomb tests carried out during the cold war have had an unexpected benefit.

A radioactive carbon isotope expelled by the blasts has been used to date the age of adult human brain cells, providing the first definitive evidence that we generate new brain cells throughout our lives. The study also provides the first model of the dynamics of the process, showing that the regeneration of neurons does not drop off with age as sharply as expected.

In mammals, most types of brain cell are created at or soon after birth and are never renewed. But studies in rodents and monkeys have shown that in two regions new neurons continue to be created even in adulthood – the hippocampus, which is involved in learning and the formation of new memories, and the olfactory bulb, which processes smell.

However, there has been some controversy over whether the same is true for humans. Fifteen years ago a study found evidence for such neurogenesis in adults up to the age of 72 (Nature Medicine, doi.org/b7hjfz), but the research relied on a chemical called bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) to label neurons. BrdU was used at the time to track the spread of tumours in people with cancer, but it was banned shortly after and so the study was never repeated, leading some researchers to question the results.

Another study on London taxi drivers suggested that the hippocampus grows with increasing knowledge of the city but this, too, has been controversial.

Radioactive growth

The new study settles the debate. "The existence of adult hippocampal neurogenesis in humans is not arguable this time," says Sandrine Thuret at King's College London, who was not involved in the work.

Instead of chemical labelling, Jonas Frisén at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues used a by-product of the above-ground nuclear bomb tests carried out by the US, UK and Soviet Union between 1945 and 1963. As a result of these detonations, atmospheric levels of the radioactive isotope carbon-14 increased dramatically during this period. It has decreased steadily since.

Carbon-14 enters the food chain and eventually finds its way into our cells, which integrate carbon-14 atoms into their DNA when a parent cell splits into two new daughter cells. The amount of carbon-14 in the atmosphere is therefore mirrored in the cells at the time they are born.

By analysing brain tissue using mass spectrometry equipment, the team was able to measure the number of carbon-14 atoms trapped in different populations of cells in different brain regions.

They could then compare this figure to known data for atmospheric levels of carbon-14 to date the birth of a cell in different people to within about a year. The level of carbon-14 is higher in older cells grown closer to the peak of nuclear bomb testing than in cells born more recently.

Frisén's team previously used this method to show that humans are the only known mammal in which neurogenesis does not occur in the adult olfactory bulb, since the cells in this brain region were the same age.

Forever young

But looking at the hippocampus in 55 post-mortem brains aged between 19 and 92, the team has now found that a subset of neurons in an area of the hippocampus called the dentate gyrus are indeed created throughout adulthood. In effect, a small population of our brain cells remains permanently young, renewing itself continually. By modelling the process, the team estimated that we generate around 1400 new neurons every day. "Everyone working on adult hippocampal neurogenesis is excited about this work," says Thuret.

The team was surprised that the ability to create new neurons appears to stay with humans longer than it does in mice. "In mice the decline is pretty dramatic," says Frisén. But instead of the 10-fold decrease between young and middle-aged mice, the team found only a four-fold decrease in humans, he says.

But the newborn brain cells in humans do not appear to live long. In rodents, the hippocampus gradually gets bigger as new cells are added. "In mice, there is a net increase," says Thuret. But this is not seen in humans – in fact, our hippocampus slowly shrinks. "There are more dying than being born," she says.

The reason for this turnover remains unknown. Many studies in mice show that young neurons are necessary for forming new memories. But this has not been tested in humans.

Are the gods playing marble on mars?

(Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)


A rolling stone gathers no moss – but on Mars it can nevertheless cloak itself in mystery. This NASA image shows the track of a boulder that rolled across the Nili Fossae region of Mars. For now it is anyone's guess what set the rock in motion.

This false-colour picture (click on it for higher resolution) was posted on 7 June to the Beautiful Mars Tumblr feed, a collection of high-resolution shots from the HiRISE camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It shows dark, jagged tracks left in the soil by a lumpy boulder, probably a few metres wide, as it tumbled down a slope. A handful of smaller rocks (seen on the right) also made dotted lines as they rolled.

The rocks were not exactly crucial targets for NASA. Instead they were captured by chance as the HiRISE team gathered data on Nili Fossae, a group of trenches near a large impact basin. Orbital images of the region show that it is rich in clay minerals, hinting that water was once abundant there. Nili Fossae has also been identified as a methane hot spot on Mars. The intriguing area was a potential landing site for the Curiosity rover, but Gale crater and its 5-kilometre-high Mount Sharp won out.


It is unclear if these rocks all rolled down the slope together and what event on Mars could have shaken them loose. A Marsquake, a nearby impact or erosion of the underlying soil are all possibilities, says Phil Plait on his blog, Bad Astronomy. The HiRISE team is also unsure when the tracks were made, saying only that they look fresh. They add that "fresh" is a relative term on a cold, dry planet that has largely preserved its geologic structures for millions of years

4 BATTERY CONCEPTS THAT CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

As lithium-ion nears its limits, the hunt is on for the battery of the future.



Imagine a smartphone that can be completely charged in mere minutes; lasts longer on that charge than any phone you've ever seen; is made from cleaner materials; and costs less than existing devices, to boot.

This is all possible—but first, the world needs a better way to power that gadget. Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries have served us well, but we can do better. When we find the replacement, it will revolutionize the way we think about energy. But the ideal power source will need to satisfy a host of commercial and industrial uses—everything from electric vehicles and airplanes to phones and cameras—even power grids. Not to mention, it needs to be compact and environmentally friendly. That’s a heavy challenge, indeed.

This is the good news: Researchers around the world are on the hunt to find just such a device, and they have plenty of promising leads. Here's a look at four of the top contenders.


Tin Nanocrystal Lithium-Ion Battery

Lithium-ion is the standard bearer of chargeable battery technology. It’s energy-dense, relatively cheap, and used in everything from tablet computers and cameras to airplanes and power drills. Elemental lithium is also the lightest metal on the periodic table and boasts the greatest electrochemical potential.

Demand has risen for an electrode nanomaterial that will boost the energy-storing capacity of lithium-ion devices.The lithium-ion battery generates power by sending lithium ions from a negative electrode to a positive electrode, and does the reverse during a charge. But the electrodes themselves—typically made of cobalt, nickel, manganese, or graphite—are not as absorbent of these ions as many would like them to be. Accordingly, demand has risen for an electrode nanomaterial that will boost the energy-storing capacity of lithium-ion batteries.
Many scientists see tin as the perfect element for the job. Tin crystal, specifically, expands up to three times its normal size when it absorbs lithium ions, and then shrinks again after releasing them—just like a sponge. This doubles the energy capacity of the battery, according to the Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry at ETH Zurich.


Metal-Air Battery

Aside from being an awesome band name, "metal-air" is a nonspecific category of batteries whose metal electrodes react with air instead of liquid. These electrodes may be built from a number of different metals, each of which interacts with oxygen in the air to produce an electrical current. A variety of metals can be used for the electrode, but the most promising ones are lithium and sodium.

Some experts see lithium-air as the Holy Grail of electric car batteries, as it promises to extend the battery life of these vehicles to a whopping 1,000 miles—much higher than the existing average of 125 miles. Right now the technology is unstable, but research and investment are not. IBM, for example, is currently working on a prototype lithium-air battery for Boeing's Dreamliner airplane.

An alternative to lithium-air is sodium-air. It has a lower theoretical energy capacity but is more stable and easier to build—and still more efficient than today's lithium-ion batteries. In fact, tests have shown sodium-air batteries with a higher practical energy storage capacity than lithium-air. So for the time being, this technology is arguably superior to the supposed “Holy Grail,” lithium-air. Researchers have also made strides with aluminum- and zinc-air devices, the latter of which is already on the market and can be found in hearing aids.

Liquid Metal Battery

Imagine: a battery like the T-1000 that can shape-shift into whatever kind of energy source you need. Well that's probably never going to happen, but liquid metal might help make power grids more efficient. Currently, grids aren't capable of storing electricity, so power utilities have to play a sort of guessing game when it comes to supply and demand, which makes for a highly inefficient system. But imagine a grid-scale power cell capable of sequestering energy for on-demand delivery by utilities. That is one of the ideas behind the so-called "smart grid", which relies on IT to anticipate fluctuations in demand—and some experts see liquid-metal as the key ingredient.

Imagine a grid-scale power cell capable of sequestering energy for on-demand delivery by utilities.Here’s how it works: Two liquid-metal electrodes—one low-density negative and one high-density positive—are separated by a molten-salt electrolyte. The difference in composition between the two liquid metals gives rise to a voltage.
MIT Professor Donald Sadoway, who fathered the concept, told the BBC that such a battery would require 50-100 fewer individual cells than a standard battery cell array, making it commercially practical. Sadoway expects a prototype to be ready in 2014.

Graphene Supercapacitor

Okay, so it isn't actually a battery, but aside from sounding like some kind of doomsday device, the graphene supercapacitor is the most exciting emerging technology in the field of power cells—and could ultimately render batteries obsolete. Unlike batteries, which produce current through an electrochemical reaction, capacitors merely store energy. The challenge so far has been to develop a capacitor that is compact, inexpensive, and more energy-dense than a battery—hence, the term "supercapacitor."

That this discovery may have “changed the world” is pretty exciting.
Recent research has pointed to graphene, a sheet of carbon that is just one atom thick. It greatly increases the energy density of capacitors. A recent “accidental” discovery by a student in the Kaner Lab at UCLA showed how graphene can be cheaply manufactured using existing consumer technology. The discovery prompted the creation of a short documentary that went viral and became a finalist in GE’s Focus Forward competition. According to Slate’s Farhad Manjoo, widespread applications of the technology may be less than 10 years away. The Kaner Lab asserts that this discovery may have “changed the world,” which is pretty exciting.

Which One Will Succeed?

We aren't chemists, but if we had to pick one new technology to root for, the graphene supercapacitor looks really, really (super?) exciting. Graphene alone is capturing the imaginations of scientists, researchers, and basement tech gurus, with some speculating that the nanomaterial is the next plastic. Add to the mix a new way of thinking about capacitors and you have a textbook example of revolutionary innovation.

In a way, technology is the history of failure.Of course, the history of technology is fraught with instances of “miracle” inventions turning out to be little more than examples of what not to do. In a way, technology is the history of failure. But even the biggest mistakes always seem to be the seed of something greater—like MySpace to Facebook or the PDA to the smartphone. The brightest minds have a way of honing in on what works and removing that which doesn’t.
Perhaps one of the above batteries will be the inspiration for a radically new way of thinking about power. But it seems like the graphene supercapacitor is that insight.

BlackBerry Messenger now looks to be taking on the likes of WhatsApp and iMessage after BlackBerry announced it would be launching on iOS and Android

BBM for iPhone and Android could be launching as soon as 27th June according to a tweeted picture of the app by unofficial Twitter feed BlackBerry Worldwide.

The fan-based Twitter feed which posts pictures and tips for BlackBerry users announced that they believed the app would be launching at the end of this month.

"Bbm officially available on iphone and android phones from 27th june2013"

BBM has in the past only been available for owners of BlackBerry smartphones but just a few months after the launch of BlackBerry 10 Thorsten Heins announced that the free messaging service would now be launching on other operating systems.

This will put the service in direct competition with the likes of WhatsApp and Apple's iMessage which allows owners of Apple products to talk to each other for free.

Despite the company announcing the launch of the app little else is know about what it will look like or the full extent of the services that will be available.

All we do know is that it will initially launch as a simple messaging service with more advanced features like BBM Voice and BBM Video appearing in updates later in the year.

'KILLER ROBOTS' POSE THREAT TO PEACE AND SHOULD BE BANNED, UN WARNED Ed Pilkington — Guardian.co.uk May 31, 2013

“Killer robots” that could attack targets autonomously without a human pulling the trigger pose a threat to international stability and should be banned before they come into existence, the United Nations will be told by its human rights investigator this week.


Christof Heyns, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, will address the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday and call for a worldwide moratorium on what he calls “lethal autonomous robotics” – weapons systems that, once activated, can lock on and kill targets without further involvement of human handlers.


“Machines lack morality and mortality, and as a result should not have life and death powers over humans,” Heyns will say.


Heyns’s call for a moratorium draws the UN into the realms of sci-fi: fully autonomous weapons have not yet been developed, and exist only in the imaginations of military planners. However, experts in warfare technologies warn that the world’s leading military powers are moving so rapidly in this direction that a pre-emptive ban is essential.


“States are working towards greater and greater autonomy in weapons, and the potential is there for such technologies to be developed in the next 10 or 20 years,” said Bonnie Docherty of Harvard law school’s International Human Rights Clinic, who co-authored a report on the subject with Human Rights Watch.


In his submission to the UN, Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.


Drone technology has already moved a step closer to a fully autonomous state in the form of the X-47B, a super-charged UAV developed by the US Navy that can fly itself, and which last week completed the first takeoff from an aircraft carrier. The drone is billed as a non-combat craft, yet its design includes two weapons bays capable of carrying more than 4,000lbs.


Britain is developing its own next generation of drone, known as Taranis, that can be sent to tackle targets at long range and can defend itself from enemy aircraft. Like X-47B it has two in-built weapons bays, though is currently unarmed.


Apart from drones, several states are known to be actively exploring the possibility of autonomous weapons operating on the ground. South Korea has set up sentry robots known as SGR-1 along the Demilitarized Zone with North Korea that can detect people entering the zone through heat and motion sensors; though the sentry is currently configured so that it has to be operated by a human, it is reported to have an automatic mode, which, if deployed, would allow it to fire independently on intruders.


Steve Goose, Human Rights Watch’s arms director, said it was undeniable that “modern militaries are looking to develop autonomous weapons. The question is how far that push for autonomy will go.”


Given its dominance as the world’s leading military power, the US is likely to set the pace. According to Human Rights Watch, the Pentagon is spending about $6bn a year on research and development of unmanned systems, though in a directive adopted last November it said that fully autonomous weapons could only be used “to apply non-lethal, non-kinetic force, such as some forms of electronic attack”.


The key issue identified by Heyns in his UN submission is whether future weapons systems will be allowed to make the decision to kill autonomously, without human intervention. In military jargon, there are those unmanned weapons where “humans are in the loop” – ie retain control over the weapon and ultimately pull the trigger – as opposed to the future potential for autonomous weapons where humans are “out of the loop” and the decision to attack is taken by the robot itself.


The possibility of “out of the loop” weapons raises a plethora of moral and legal issues, Heyns says. Most worryingly, it could lead to increasing distance between those carrying out the attack and their targets: “In addition to being physically removed from the kinetic action, humans would also become more detached from decisions to kill – and their execution.”

TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION

HISTORY

                                                                         In this modern era of science, we cannot think even a single day without technology. Today, we are in this position of development only for technology. Without it, we would stay thousands of years back from the modern civilization.

The main fuel of the modern civilization is education. And with the help of education we’re going ahead day by day. Combination of technology in education is making it more and more attractive and effective.
Recently, Dell surveyed 1,557 high schools and colleges throughout the U.S.A., China and Germany. The teachers, students and the parents were asked about the use of technology in education. 9 in 10 replied technology helps to increase students’ learning ability. And 82 percent of people from the whole world think technology needs to be utilized more.

The survey says that 53 percent of Chinese students are using modern technology in their classes, while the percentage is only 29 in the U.S.A and 27 in Germany. Hence, we can say China is clearly ahead using technology in education more than the U.S.A. and Germany.
We cannot but call computer a part of parcel of the modern technology. And nowadays, in technology based education system, computer is a must. There are lots of advantages of using a computer as a learning tool in modern education system. With the help of the internet, a student can learn anything even sitting his home. This is time effective and useful too. A student need not visit his school every day in this system. He can get all the information and syllabus through the internet. Especial soft wares and components can help a student to make his projects easier. Distance education is following this system.
In technology based education system, a digital community can be built, which is helpful for all the students, teachers and even for the parents. By dint of this digital community, all of them can act like a single family. They can share their ideas, information and plans to make education more effective and fruitful.
We all know, the internet is the strongest source of all information and all education. And so, a learner can easily find out his wanted thing from it within a second. Even, if he needs something to know at midnight, he need not wait for the school time of tomorrow, he can find that out within a moment using modern technology. Technology is making the education system easier day by day. It has been helping to make our life comfortable and cheerful. Even, the developing countries are increasing use of technology in their education system.
The United Nations is playing a vital role in spreading technology in education. They have been giving free laptops worldwide for the past few years. You’ll be astonished to know that some poorest countries of Africa are using technology in education and noticeable changes have occurred in their lifestyle.
That day is not so far, when most of the educational institutions will use technology in their education system. And the whole world will come closer to each other which will help to build a world full of friendship and peace.