Author: Brian Barrett

It’s maybe not the most surprising news, given the Wall Street Journal‘s longtime web leadership, but Rupert Murdoch has officially confirmed that the WSJ will indeed appear on the iPad. But Rupert, what can you tell us about it?

Well… nothing, apparently:

Mr. Murdoch said the Journal planned to be on Apple Inc.’s iPad tablet computer. “In fact, we’ve been allowed to work on one, and it’s under padlock and key. The key is turned by Apple every night,” he said in response to a question. “under padlock and key.”

The lack of detail probably comes down to iPad crisis publishers are undergoing as they scramble to find a profitable subscription model. The WSJ has never had a problem charging for what they view as premium content on the web, so presumably they’ll be less likely to accept any deal they see as unfairly tipped in Apple’s favor.

In a separate part of the interview, Murdoch speculated that there will be “half a dozen or more” devices popping up in the next year on which we’ll be reading newspapers and and accessing other media.

So: vague for now. But WSJ on the iPad is for real, and we’ll find out soon enough exactly how… and how much. [WSJ]

OK Go‘s new music video for “This Too Shall Pass” is four minutes of pure Rube Goldberg insanity. And as these behind-the-scenes videos show, it was every bit as monumental an undertaking as you’d expect:

What started with a two-paragraph synopsis of the band’s vision quickly ballooned into a massive-scale project requiring 20 engineers. The work was headed up by Syyn Labs (formerly Mindshare), a collective of “creative engineers” who explore the intersection of art and technology.

The planning started last November, according to Wired, with actual construction not beginning until January. It was a massive undertaking: eight core builders responsible for most of the design and building, 12 additional part-time builders, and six weeks of uninterrupted work.

The result: a Rube Goldberg machine with dozens of moving parts filling an entire Los Angeles warehouse, and—important to OK Go lead singer Damian Kulash—no computers or other “tricks.” Just pure physics in motion.

Shooting the video took two days and more than 60 takes, with most attempts failing at around the thirty second mark. To reset the entire contraption took a team of 30 volunteers close to an hour. It’s all really remarkable stuff—and it doesn’t hurt that it’s accompanied by a such a catchy tune.


[Wired]

An SSD is something that you wish you had: they’re fast, efficient, and quiet. Now Western Digital has introduced SiliconEdge Blue, the first line of consumer SSDs from one of the biggest names in storage. Too bad they’re overpriced.

There’s no questioning that SiliconEdge Blue is more than capable, with 240 – 250MB/sec read speeds and write rates at around 140 – 150MB/sec. But according to Hot Hardware’s review, WD’s new SSDs leave something to be desired. The actual performance was average, especially considering the bloated price point compared to similar Intel and Micron models:

Intel’s 160GB SSDs are selling for as little as $429 currently and Micron’s 256GB C300 SSD is currently selling for $799. With MSRPs of $529 for the 128GB variant and $999 for the 256GB model, the SiliconEdge Blue isn’t going to turn many heads its way right out of the gate.

Of course, this is just the introductory MSRP, which will likely go down soon after launch—especially if there’s weak market demand. As for the performance, it’s important to remember that WD also has a higher-end Black line of products, so if you’re looking for an SSD with a little more juice you may want to hold off until whenever SiliconEdge Black shows up.

WD(R) Introduces Fast and Rugged Solid State Drives for Notebooks and Desktop PCs

New WD SiliconEdge(TM) Blue(TM) Drive Designed as High Performance, High Reliability Storage for OEMs and Technology Enthusiasts

LAKE FOREST, Calif., March 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — WD® (NYSE: WDC) today announced that the company is shipping its first consumer-oriented solid state drive (SSD) with the new WD SiliconEdge™ 2.5-inch SSD family. WD SiliconEdge Blue™ SSDs offer fast read/write speeds and high SSD capacities, making them an ideal storage solution for read-intensive applications requiring high performance and plug-and-play compatibility.

WD SiliconEdge Blue SSDs, in capacities up to 256 gigabytes (GB), feature a native SATA 3.0 gigabits per second (Gb/s) interface with read speeds up to 250 megabytes per second (MB/s) and write transfer rates up to 170 MB/s. Fast and rugged, WD SiliconEdge Blue SSDs accelerate application performance and deliver maximum tolerance for drops, shock and vibration along with silent and low-power operation.

“The development of the WD SiliconEdge Blue product family leverages WD’s extensive experience in designing and manufacturing highly reliable storage products and the company’s worldwide sales and distribution network to accelerate SSD technology adoption by OEMs, technology enthusiasts, gamers and road warriors,” said Michael Hajeck, senior vice president and general manager of WD’s solid state storage business unit. “Customers who demand the ultimate in performance will find the WD SiliconEdge Blue SSDs exceed all their requirements.”

The new WD SiliconEdge Blue product family has passed WD’s extensive functional integrity testing procedures, which subjected the WD SiliconEdge Blue SSDs to over 250,000 hours of testing to ensure they meet the industry’s highest data integrity, reliability and compatibility standards. Designed for both read-intensive client/consumer applications and write-intensive, 24/7 OEM applications, WD’s new multi-level cell (MLC) -based SSDs feature patented and patent-pending technologies, such as advanced wear-leveling and error correction control, as well as TRIM and NCQ (Native Command Queuing) command support to ensure maximum drive performance and endurance with easy plug and play compatibility.

Price and Availability

WD SiliconEdge Blue SSDs are available through select distributors and resellers. The manufacturers suggested retail price (MSRP) for WD SiliconEdge Blue SSD 64 GB (model SSC-D0064SC-2100) capacity is $279.00, the 128 GB (model SSC-D0128SC-2100) capacity is $529.00 and the 256 GB (SSC-D0256SC-2100) capacity is $999.00 USD. The WD SiliconEdge Blue drive is backed by WD’s world-class technical support and comes with a three-year limited warranty. More information on WD SiliconEdge Blue SSDs may be found on the company’s Web site at http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=789.

[Western Digital, Hot Hardware]

Cool Leaf is an input system that’s perfectly flat, and wonderfully mirrored. A Japanese company called Minebea pioneered it, and they’re demonstrating it with a keyboard, calculator, and remote control that are complete key top-free.

The immediately apparent benefit—other than the crazy-futuristic look— is that the devices would be easy to clean: no keys for dust or crumbs to get stuck behind or under. The reflective surface also looks great, although I’d be worried about smudging.

Technologically, what Minebea has done is pretty fancy: they’ve combined backlights, force sensors, and a new film from a company called Toray Industries to create the world’s first “electrostatic capacity type touch panel and a load sensor.” Which to me reads “ooo, shiny!” No word yet on when products like this will be commercially available, but when they do I’ll be ready with my wallet and a chamois cloth. [Minebea via CrunchGear]

Tragedy! The New York Times is reporting that Viacom is going to pull “The Daily Show,” “The Colbert Report,” and other Comedy Central properties off of Hulu next week. The reason, as always: money. The bigger question: who’s next?

Apparently Viacom realized the importance of “The Daily Show” to Hulu—it’s consistently one of the site’s most popular programs and is clearly in sync with the Hulu demographc—and wanted outsized compensation, possibly including upfront payment.

You’ll still be able to watch rebroadcasts of John Stewart and Stephen Colbert on TheDailyShow.com and ColbertNation.com. But the larger point seems to be that if you’re not one of Hulu’s major network stakeholders, sharing your content on the site may not be financially viable. That doesn’t immediately impact many popular shows outside of Viacom’s cadre, but if Hulu wants to be a big tent for online video, they’re going to need the participation of third-party content providers. Of which there are plenty, including BBC America, WB, and a whole lot of niche content providers with passionate fan bases.

Maybe Hulu’s inevitable pay model will be a solution that helps spread the wealth a little better. But if they lose many more shows by then, it may not even matter. [NY Times]

Happy Birthday, Yahoo! You turned 15 today. As a present, here’s a pretty scathing assessment of you from Ditherati, compliments of Twitter. You know, your new content-sharing partner! It’s okay… everyone’s teen years are awkward.

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz‘s comments about comparing her company to Google came during a CNBC interview today, in which she also spilled that yeah, sure, Yahoo would accept a buyout at the right price:

And what do you bet that price is dropping every day? Let’s hope they blow out all the candles in Sunnyvale today—Yahoo could use a wish or two. [Twitter, CNBC]

All this time I thought people weren’t using Google Wave because it was generally unwieldy. But after watching this I finally understand: people don’t use Google Wave because it’s specifically unwieldy, for cyber sex. [College Humor]

Oh, hello! A trip to the YouTube wayback machine shows that 1996’s Steve “Great Artists Steal” Jobs might have taken issue with Steve Jobs 2010, and his patent lawsuit firebombing of HTC. Irony!

The comment was made during a 1996 PBS documentary called “Triumph of the Nerds,” and looks a smidge hypocritical in light of today’s events. As does this one:

“We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.”

Goodness. If that’s true, then lawyering up against innovative competitors must be the one of the best ideas you ever heard.

In fact, compare the above to what Jobs said just today in the press release about the HTC lawsuit:

“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

Emphasis added. That’s quite a 180 for a company and a man who have always been known for respecting and triumphing innovation. A disappointing one, at that.

Update: To clarify, and as is clear in the video, Jobs was quoting Pablo Picasso in the headlined quote. The follow-up quote is all him. [YouTube via commenter Fractal the Meek]

AT&T’s first Android phone won’t ship with Google Search. Instead, The Motorola Backflip‘s home screen will sport a Yahoo Search widget, and its browser will run Yahoo searches by default. Yep. I think that’s what they call a burn.

It’ll be the first Android device of any kind with Yahoo as the main search engine, which makes sense: Android is Google’s platform, so Google Search is a natural fit. But Android’s also an open platform, which means that carriers can do with it what they please—including denying its creator a chunk of valuable search revenue.

AT&T’s undisputed bread and butter is the iPhone, which means that appeasing Apple is high on their priority list. And it’s hard to see what other advantage this move has for the carrier other than scoring a point in their patron’s favor in the escalating Apple-Google feud.

There are four more AT&T Android phones on the horizon, and it’ll be interesting to see how many of them follow this same track. That’ll probably have something to do with the consumer response to Yahoo. In the meantime, the Backflip exposes a noticeable chink in Google’s Android armor: an open system is, by definition, one you can get shut out of. [Engadget via Android Community]

Netbook graphics are inherently weak, especially with Intel’s much-derided integrated graphics. But the new Nvidia Ion—like its predecessor—lets even a wimpy netbook Hulk out to play DX10 games and 1080p videos. The difference? It’s a discrete graphics chip.

The original Ion was an integrated chipset (a spin on the GeForce 9400M inside of unibody MacBooks), but since Nvidia can no longer make chipsets for Intel’s latest chips, the new, souped-up Ion is a separate graphics chip that connects via PCI Express and uses Nvidia’s Optimus technology to automagically switch between Intel’s integrated graphics and Ion, retaining your netbook’s solid battery life. The claim is up to 10 hours (though that obviously depends on what tasks you’re doing). Where Intel’s GMA 3150 can’t handle a benchmark like 3D Mark Vantage, the current generation Ion does so with aplomb. Twice as well, in fact, as the first Ion. It also offers 4x faster video enhancement and 7x faster video compression versus Intel’s integrated solution. The difference now though is that we’re talking about a discrete GPU beating an integrated one, whereas before it was more of an apples to apples (or at least integrated to integrated) comparison.

One thing to keep in mind: there are two Ions coming to the market, and the performance being quoted only applies to the 16-core iteration that’ll appear in 12-inch netbooks and desktop all-in-ones. The new 8-core Ion, which will show up in 10-inch netbooks like the Acer Aspire One 532G, was actually outperformed by the first-generation Ion in a benchmark test from late February.

Still, there’s no question that any Ion is a step up from the graphics your netbook currently offers, and while there haven’t been many hardware announcements yet, there should be over 30 next-gen Ion designs—ranging from netbooks to all-in-ones to nettops—by this summer. You should expect the same $50 premium that you currently pay for an Ion netbook, but for all the added functionality it may well be worth it.

New NVIDIA ION Netbooks Deliver 10x Faster Graphics And Up To 10 Hours of Battery Life Thanks to Acclaimed NVIDIA Optimus Technology

Acer, ASUS and Lenovo Among Leading Vendors to Introduce Next-generation ION PCs

CEBIT-HANOVER, Germany-March 2, 2010-NVIDIA introduced the Next-generation NVIDIA® ION™ graphics processor today, which will supercharge netbooks with 10 times the graphics performance of standard netbooks1 and enable up to 10 hours of battery life2 thanks to NVIDIA® Optimus™ technology.

The new ION graphics processing unit (GPU) vastly outperforms basic netbook graphics by delivering rich HD media in games, movies, and Internet-based video. Unlike netbooks with Intel integrated graphics, ION netbooks have the power to play amazing HD video smoothly from sites like YouTube and support popular PC games like World of Warcraft.

The new ION netbooks also feature NVIDIA’s highly acclaimed Optimus technology, which automatically selects the best graphics processor for running any given application – seamlessly routing the workload to either an NVIDIA discrete GPU or Intel integrated graphics. The result is great battery life and superior performance when you need it.

More than 30 products featuring the new ION GPU are expected to launch by this summer including netbooks, small form factor desktops, “barebones” systems, motherboards, and discrete add-in cards. The Acer Aspire One 532G (10-inch) and ASUS 1201PN (12-inch) are expected to be the first new ION netbooks to be introduced. New all-in-one PCs powered by next-generation ION will include the ASUS EeeTop 2010PNT and Lenovo C200. Channel partners including AOpen, AsRock, Asus, Foxconn, Giada, J&W, Jetway, Pegatron, POV, Shuttle, and Zotac also plan to introduce new ION-based products soon.

Facts about Next-generation NVIDIA ION graphics:
· It’s a discrete GPU (graphics processing unit) with dedicated memory that attaches to an Intel Atom Pine Trail CPU via PCI Express.

· It supports streaming HD video on sites like YouTube HD, and smooth gaming performance on titles like World of Warcraft and Spore.

· ION netbooks feature NVIDIA Optimus technology, which automatically assigns processing chores to the NVIDIA ION GPU or integrated graphics. Optimus powers down the GPU for basic tasks like web surfing, further extending battery life. When more graphics horsepower is needed for playing 3D games, running videos, or using GPU compute applications, Optimus automatically enables the ION GPU.

· It will be available starting in April with the Acer Aspire One 532G netbook.

· It accelerates a growing list of media-rich applications including Muvee Reveal for making home movies, Badaboom for media conversion, Total Media Theater and PowerDVD 9 for watching HD video or instantly upscaling standard definition video to near-HD quality.

[Nvidia]

Artist Molly Dilworth doesn’t want to waste time showing off her work in stuffy studios. Instead, she’s taking her paintings to the rooftops, with vast pieces specifically designed to be viewed by Google Earth‘s satellites.

There was a similar (though a smidge more lowbrow) attempt at something similar a couple of years ago, when a Canadian student tried to start a global, Google Earth-inspired game of Where’s Waldo. Dilworth’s images, though, will range from abstract color swipes to a type of large-scale pointillism, where pictures snap into focus only when viewed from high in the air.

As Dilworth describes it:

My work is generally concerned with human perception of current conditions; the Paintings for Satellites are specifically concerned with the effects of the digital on our physical bodies. All my work begins a series of rules derived from existing conditions. For example, the color palette for the rooftop paintings is made from the discarded paint available on a given day; the physical surface of the roof determines the shape of the painting.

She’s gotten a great head start; the only hiccup is that there’s no telling how long it might take for Google Earth’s satellites to capture the work. But it’s heartening to know that someday all of the ridiculousness found on Google Street View might be balanced out by Google Earth masterpieces. [Molly Dilworth via Inhabitat]

At first blush, you might look at this $381,000 gold coffin that comes with a cellphone and think: what a hopelessly tacky waste of money. You’d be so wrong. Here’s just a few benefits:

• Get back at ne’er-do-well next of kin by blowing $381,000 of their inheritance money on a coffin.
• Make outgoing calls in case of accidental burial (hope it’s Verizon).
• Gold gives your pallbearers a much better workout than mahogany, or a pile of ashes.
• GPS-equipped phone makes tracking down grave robbers a cinch.
• Be the envy of your fellow undead during the inevitable zombie uprising.

See? Now don’t everyone rush out to get one. I’m sure there are plenty enough to go around. [France24 via Born Rich]

Panasonic is going to be rolling out production of Li-ion batteries that use a silicon alloy anode soon, according to Nikkei. The result? A whopping 30% increase in capacity. Panasonic’s not the only company working on the technology, but they’re the first to yield any kind of spec detail.

The Si-alloy batteries are expected to retain at least 80% capacity even after 500 charge/recharge cycles, and will be available commercially starting in 2012. The first target: notebooks, although the bigger fish appears to be vehicles. Don’t get to excited about the impact on electric cars, though: given the additional weight associated with Si-alloys, it’ll be some time before we see one of these bad boys in a Volt. [Nikkei via Engadget]

With more tablets being announced each day, there’s a lot of pressure on market entrants to stand out. A custom user interface is a great way to do that! The eviGroup Paddle‘s stop-the-ride-I-wanna-get-off Scale UI, less so. See for yourself:

The Paddle actually looks like a decent little tablet: 10.1-inch multitouch screen, 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, up to 320GB of onboard storage, runs Windows 7. Yep, it’s all pretty appealing, until you get the the price—starts at $952—and the Scale UI, which simulates what I imagine car sickness to feel like.

No more details on specs are available at the moment, but the Paddle is expected to be released sometime this spring, with an SDK out later this year. So all you developers, please start working on your Paddle Scale Dramamine apps ASAP. [TFTs via Geeky Gadgets]

HP’s ProBook s-series wants to be your everything: punchy enough for work, stylish enough for home. And with a new brushed aluminum industrial design and Core i3/i5/i7 processing power, they may just bridge that gap.

HP’s rolling out four new ProBook models, ranging from the 13.3-inch 4320s to the heavy-duty 17.3-inch 4720s. In addition to those speedy Arrandale processors and “caviar” and “bordeaux” aluminum finishes, the new line-up also features optional ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4350 discrete graphics (compared with the previous generation’s Radeon 4330, HD LED-backlit displays, and an optional 2MP camera.

The ProBooks also feature DayStarter, a feature that lets you view your calendar to distract you while your computer loads, and ArcSoft TotalMedia Suite audio and video editing software. WIth an optional 9-cell battery, the battery life is listed at an impressive 10 hours.

You won’t find any USB 3.0 here, and the price points—starting at $719 for the 13-inch base configuration—are good-not-great. But if you need a work notebook with a little flair, and a home notebook with a little kick, ProBook might be your answer for both. You’ll have a chance to find out when they become available later this month. [HP]

The HP EliteBook 2730p was a tough little convertible tablet, and its successor— HP’s EliteBook 2740p—is no exception. The 2740p meets the same rugged MIL-STD 810G military standards, and adds a capacitive touch screen and Core i5/i7 goodness.

The 12.1-inch WXGA (1280 x 800) LED display includes anti-glare and optional outdoor view, and can be operated with a pen, your finger, the keyboard, or some combination thereof. Under the hood, you’ve got your choice of Core i7 or Core i5 processors, but there’s sadly no discrete graphics option.

You’ll get up to five hours out of the standard six-cell battery, but can add on an HP 2700 ultra-slim battery for an additional six hours (listed). And the standard set-up weighs under four pounds—not bad for a tough guy convertible tablet. The HP EliteBook 2740p will be available in the US in April, starting at $1600.

Processor: Intel® CoreTM i7 Mobile Processor Family with Turbo Boost Technology; Intel® CoreTM i5 Mobile Processor Family with Turbo Boost Technology

Memory: DDR3 SDRAM, 1066/1333 MHz*, two slots supporting dual-channel memory, 1024/2048/4096 MB SODIMMs, up to 8192 MB total15 *Running at 1066 MHz

Removable Media: Optional HP External USB CD/DVD R/RW Drive Optional fixed 9.5-mm DVD+/—RW SuperMulti DL Drive available for HP 2740 Ultra-Slim Expansion Base9

Graphics: Intel® HD Graphics with dynamic frequency

Wireless Support: Optional HP un2420 EV-DO/HSPA Mobile Broadband Module (requires mobile network operator service)5 (GPS-enabled)6; Intel Centrino; Intel 802.11a/b/g/n;4 Broadcom 802.11a/b/g/n, b/g;4 HP Integrated Module with Bluetooth ® v2.1 Wireless Technology; HP Wireless Assistant, Connection Manager 3.1

Expansion Slots: 1 ExpressCard/34 slot, Secure Digital slot (SD/MMC)

Chipset: Mobile Intel QM57 Chipset; Intel vPro Technology24 (optional)

Internal Storage: 1.8-inch bay: 160/250 GB25 5400 rpm SMART SATA II HD, 320 GB25 5400 rpm HDD or 80/160 GB25 SSD, HP 3D DriveGuard

Display: 12.1-inch diagonal LED-backlit WXGA ultra wide viewing angle anti-glare (1280 x 800) – digitizer only or digitizer & multi-touch Optional Outdoor View, (Outdoor view only available with digitizer and multi-touch)

Audio/Visual: High Definition Audio, stereo speakers, combo headphone/microphone jack, integrated dual-microphone array, integrated 2 MP Webcam

Communications: Integrated Intel Gigabit Ethernet PCI Controller (10/100/1000 NIC), 56K v.92 modem
Ports and Connectors: 3 USB 2.0 ports (one powered), VGA, combo headphone/microphone jack, 1394a, power connector, RJ-11/modem, RJ-45/Ethernet, docking connector for HP 2740 Ultra-Slim Expansion Base

Software: HP Recovery Manager (Windows 7 and Vista only), HP Support Assistant (Windows 7 and Vista only), Intervideo WinDVD (select models),

Security: Standard: HP ProtectTools, Integrated Smart Card Reader, HP Fingerprint Sensor, TPM Embedded Security Chip 1.2, Kensington Lock slot, Enhanced Pre-Boot Security, HP Spare Key (requires initial user setup), HP Disk Sanitizer19 Enhanced Drive Lock, Drive Encryption for HP ProtectTools, Credential Manager for HP ProtectTools, File Sanitizer for HP ProtectTools;19

Power: HP 6-cell (44 WHr) primary battery, HP Long Life 6-cell (39 WHr) primary battery, optional secondary HP 6-cell (46 WHr) 2700 Ultra-Slim

Warranty: Limited 3-year, 1-year and 90-day warranty options available, depending on country, 1-year limited warranty on primary battery; 3-year: limited warranty on HP Long Life Batteries10. Optional HP Care Pack Services are extended service contracts which go beyond your standard
warranties. For more details visit: http://www.hp.com/go/lookuptool.

Input Device: Full-sized spill-resistant keyboard with drains, dual pointing devices (touchpad with scroll zone, pointstick), digital eraser pen, Jog dial, 2 MP Webcam16, touch-sensitive controls, HP DuraKeys22
HP QuickLook 3,7 HP QuickWeb,8 Roxio Creator Business 10 (select models), HP Power Assistant,18 Skype,16 WinZip 12

Optional: LoJack for HP ProtectTools,2, 20 McAfee Security Solution26

Dimensions: 1.25in(atfront)x11.42inx8.35in /31.7mm(atfront)x290mmx212mm

Weight: Starting at 3.8 lb (1.72 kg) with no WWAN (weight will vary by configuration)
Battery, 65W Smart Combo Adapter,2 HP Fast Charge

Expansion Solutions:HP 2740 Ultra-Slim Expansion Base, HP USB 2.0 Docking Station, HP Essential USB 2.0 Port Replicator

[HP]

With a new iPhone expected to debut this summer, Apple’s phone-related patents start to take on added weight. Especially when they’re as badass as the one unveiled yesterday that turns the iPhone’s camera into a swipe pad.

The technology described in the patent, dug up by the diligent folks at Patently Apple, would allow an iPhone user to fast forward and rewind through voicemails, navigate web pages, or scroll through contact lists and iTunes simply by swiping one finger against the iPhone’s camera.

The proposed controls would also be tap sensitive, meaning that you can access different phone or UI functions simply by tapping the camera with your forefinger. Theoretically, all of these controls would also apply to the iPad… should it ever, you know, get a camera.

The patent was originally filed in Q3 of 2008, which may have left just enough time for Apple to have implemented the tech by this summer. Let’s hope so… this is one of those patents that actually seems as functional as it does cool. [Patently Apple]

The Aurora Watch has no interest in traditional minute and second hands. It doesn’t even have a dial to speak of. Yep, you’re just going to have to settle for good old fashioned touch activated laser hands.

Yes, designer Jihun Yeom has put laser lights in a watch, with red indicating minutes and blue indicating hours. The sad news is, it’s only a concept for now. Presumably they need to perfect a fail-safe to keep from singeing wrist-hairs. But there’s no question that Future Me will be sporting one of these at each and every light cycle derby. [Yanko Design]

A quantum physics breakthrough that can predict the kinetic energy of electrons in simple metals—and semiconductors—will enable computers to simulate the behavior of new materials up to 100,000 times faster than they currently can. That’s huge.

Princeton engineer Emily Carter led the project, which took an equation by Llewellyn Hilleth Thomas and Enrico Fermi that calculates how many electrons are distributed in a theoretical gas with evenly distributed electrons and figured out how to apply it to real, imperfect materials:

“The equation scientists were using before was inefficient and consumed huge amounts of computing power, so we were limited to modeling only a few hundred atoms of a perfect material,” said Emily Carter, Princeton engineer who led the project.

“Important properties are actually determined by the flaws, but to understand those you need to look at thousands or tens of thousands of atoms so the defects are included. Using this new equation, we’ve been able to model up to a million atoms, so we get closer to the real properties of a substance.”

The results of that effort mean that principles of quantum mechanics, previously limited to small bits of matierals, can now be applied on a large scale. Modeling, then, for anything from fuel-efficient cars to electronic devices, will happen exponentially faster than it does today. Innovation just got an upgrade. [Princeton via PopSci]