Author: Brian Barrett

HP has developed an inertial accelerometer that’s so sensitive, it can detect a change in the position of its center chip of less than one-billionth the width of a human hair.

The sensor is part of HP’s unfortunately named CeNSE (Central Nervous System for the Earth) program, whose aim is to build a “planetwide network” of tiny sensors to measure anything and everything about the environment. It’s the first prototype in the CeNSE project, and it’s safe to say they’re starting off on the right foot:

Hartwell’s device is sensitive enough to “feel” a heartbeat. The source of that sensitivity is a 5mm-square, three-layer silicon chip. A portion of the center wafer is suspended between the two outer wafers by flexible silicon beams. When the chip moves, the suspended center lags behind due to its inertia. A measurement of that relative motion is used to calculate the speed, direction and distance the chip has moved.

While the larger CeNSE project may have environmentalist overtones, the first practical application is going to be from oil behemoth Shell. They’d like to use the sensors to detect pockets of oil, allowing them to drill more efficiently. Eventually, HP hopes to move to “city-level” projects that digitally capture what the five senses do—and in some cases, what they can’t. And when they finally stuff that sucker in a Wiimote, Super Smash Bros. will never be the same. [HP via Fast Company]

Technology does so much to bring us together, it’d be a shame to let language keep us apart. VoxOx is the first to overcome that hurdle, with a free real-time translation tool that lets you chat seamlessly in dozens of tongues.

The VoxOx Universal Translator is basically a social Babel Fish, built into VoxOx’s communications software. As you can see in the demonstration video, if you input the language of the person you’re communicating with over SMS, IM, email, or select chat services (such as Facebook), VoxOx automatically translates both ends of the conversation for you.

Only one person needs to be using the service for it to work, so you won’t have to convince your new friends in Minsk to download random software. In fact, you can pretty easily convince them that you’re a native speaker as well.

It’s one of those services that seems so inherently useful, it’s a wonder that it’s only just now a reality. But since it is, buena suerte making friends around the world.

VoxOx First to Introduce Real-Time Language Translation for SMS, Chat, Social Media and Email in One Interface

VoxOx Universal Translator instantly and seamlessly breaks down language barriers in mobile and electronic communication
BARCELONA (MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS) and SAN DIEGO – February 16, 2010 – VoxOx® by TelCentris®, the first and only free consumer service that unifies today’s key communication channels – voice, video, IM, text, social media, e-mail, fax and file sharing – into a single user interface, today announced the launch of the VoxOx Universal Translator™, the first translation service to be natively built into a communications software, enabling seamless, real-time conversations. The VoxOx Universal Translator is also the first service in the industry to provide instantaneous foreign language messaging translation across four major communication channels – text messages (SMS), chat (IM), email and select social media networks. The service supports dozens of major languages, and only one person has to be using VoxOx to have a two-way translated conversation.

Announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the new free service makes it easy for two people who speak different languages to instantaneously communicate back and forth via SMS, IM and email. VoxOx users can also automatically translate and broadcast their Twitter @replies (public messages directed to specific users), as well as hold two-way translated chat conversations with social networking friends on Facebook and MySpace. Users simply opens up their VoxOx Universal Messaging Window (chat window within VoxOx client), select their language as well as their contact’s language, and then begin sending text and chat messages, emails or Twitter @replies to anyone in the world. The Universal Translator instantly translates the messages for both parties in dozens of major languages. All language settings are customizable by individual contact and automatically stored in the cloud for future conversations. The service is completely interoperable with major instant messaging services, including Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live, AIM, ICQ, Skype and GoogleTalk.

“Never before has it been so easy for people of different languages to communicate instantaneously,” said Bryan Hertz, CEO of TelCentris, the creator of VoxOx. “We expect this innovation to help friends, relatives and business colleagues better communicate and connect with each other.”

VoxOx is the first service of its kind to fully address the instant communication needs of international audiences. Consumers previously were required to cut and paste messages using online translation web sites and translation “bots,” or download clunky, client-specific plug-ins that both parties have to install. Translation has been particularly challenging in two-way SMS conversations, especially for older phones without an Internet connection or applications. With its built-in live translation option spanning four communication channels, VoxOx has advanced its relevance within the international community, while providing a seamless user experience.

“The VoxOx Universal Translator breaks down language barriers and has important business implications as well – for example, providing better customer support, or communicating with colleagues, partners and business contacts in another country and another language,” said Michael Faught, president of TelCentris. “We look forward to the global feedback on this service. We are very excited and proud to launch this new capability for our users worldwide at such an international venue as the Mobile World Congress.”

The VoxOx Universal Translator is just one capability of the overall VoxOx service, which Computer Shopper recently named the Best Software / Service at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Currently in beta, VoxOx also provides users with a free phone number; two-way texting; video conferencing; integrated social networking and chat; fax and file sharing capabilities; a free personal assistant for helping answer, manage and screen calls; and much more.

For more information on the VoxOx Universal Translator, please visit http://www.voxox.com/whats_new.php. To download the free VoxOx software, please visit www.voxox.com.

Photoshop’s got a lot going for it already, but this is clearly its higher calling: to make scrumptious butter cookies with a few clicks of the mouse.

Too bad that Adobe Photoshop CS3 Cook exists only as cardboard in an adorable stop-motion video… for now. All I know is I’m calling dibs on judging the Photoshop Cook Contests of 2038. [Vimeo via The Daily What]

Bluetooth technology really is handy and wonderful. Wearing Bluetooth headsets, though, can be a bit of a fashion and comfort nightmare. Enter the Jabra Clipper, which discretely gives any pair of 3.5mm headphones the Power of Bluetooth.

The controls are in the 20-gram Clipper itself, which you can, well, clip to your clothes. It connects to two devices at once, but if you’re listening to music from your PMP, calls will automatically override the song. You also get six hours of talk time and eight hours of standby.

While there’s no word on US availability, the Clipper will be available soon in the UK for about $60. And don’t worry! It’ll be our secret. [Pocket-Lint]

An app demoed today at the MWC identifies individuals—and pulls up their profiles, with facial recognition—just by looking at them. That’s some fancy futuristic stuff right there… although there may be darker side.

The Face.com-powered app from Comverse can recognize a friend or colleague and automatically show you links to their profile or pictures and let you message them without accessing your contact list. Great so far! But according to the press release, it’s not just limited to the people you know:

# Acquaintances: The app has the potential to connect people before they even know each other’s names. If you bump into someone who you met before and he or she looks familiar but you can’t remember why, the app will locate that person’s online profile to put a name to the face.

That could be awkward! Especially if you end up being able to access the Facebook profiles of everyone in a bar from when you walk in. Then again, I’m sure there are privacy protocols built in… although those are far from fail-safe.

Facial recognition is nothing new, but having it at the ready on your phone? Awesome, and hopefully minimally creepy. We’ll have a better sense of how it plays once video and images are available.

Augmented Reality Gets a Major Face.com Lift

–Social Augmented Reality App Unveiled at Mobile World Congress–

Barcelona, Spain (February 15, 2010) – Face.com has powered the first-ever “Social Augmented Reality” app, developed by Comverse, the world’s leading provider of software and systems enabling value-added services, BSS and active customer management, and IP communications. On demonstration today at the annual Mobile World Congress, the app dissolves the barrier between mobile and social network contacts to create a seamless world for its users.

Harnessing Face.com’s superior facial recognition algorithms and its enormous database of faces, the “Social Augmented Reality” app functions in multiple capacities:

* Friends: When two friends are together and one wants to see the other’s photos, the software will recognize the friend and offer direct links to his or her profile and pictures.
* Business: At the office, a colleague might request that you remind him or her about a report that is due. A quick scan and the app will identify the individual, allowing you to message him or her without ever looking through your address book.
* Acquaintances: The app has the potential to connect people before they even know each other’s names. If you bump into someone who you met before and he or she looks familiar but you can’t remember why, the app will locate that person’s online profile to put a name to the face.

“Augmented reality was the first step to bridging the gap between on- and off-line worlds; now our technology takes it further,” said Gil Hirsch, CEO, Face.com. “The Comverse app, utilizing Face.com facial recognition technology, closes the loop by merging face-to-face with virtual social communication.”

[Image via ReFace]

Soap is dead. Never stood a chance, really. It had a good run, but the age of disinfecting our hands in plasma-gas filled boxes has finally dawned.

As the NY TImes has it, several laboratories are working on the technology, which bathes your hand in room-temperature plasma gas to kill even industrial grade bacteria like MRSA. Or your foot, to knock down athlete’s foot.

It’s got a clear and present destiny in hospital use, where doctors and nurses could kill off lingering bacteria, viruses, and fungi in as little as four seconds—as opposed to the time-intensive scrubbing process they endure today.

Prototypes exist today that are both portable and wall-mounted, and they can cost as little as $100 to build. And it won’t stop at just hand sanitizers: eventually you may see plasma gas incorporated into air-conditioning systems and burn treatments.

It’s been real, soap. I’ll remember you fondly in those four seconds while I’m washing up before dinner. [NY Times via DVice]

Buffalo today unveiled the first-even four-port USB 3.0 hub. Right now? May not be that useful. But sooner than you think, this is going to be the multi-port hub that you need.

USB 3.0 has already started working its way onto PCs, and it won’t be long before it’s become the new standard. As well it should: Buffalo’s BSH4A03U3 hub is backwards compatible with USB 1.1 and 2.0, but offers data transfer speeds of up to 5Gbps.

The 4-port USB 3.0 hub will be available in Japan later next month, AC adapter included, for $88. There’s no word yet on when it might be available stateside, but the clock’s ticking. [Buffalo via CrunchGear]

AT&T, Orange, Telefónica, China Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, and several more carriers have announced the formation of the Wholesale Applications Community, which aims to create a viable alternative to Apple’s walled-garden approach to apps.

They’ll be joined on the hardware side by LG, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson as they attempt to create an open system for app development and distribution. What they lack in momentum they make up for in mass: combined, the alliance services more than three billion customers worldwide.

There’s no question that apps are big business, especially for Apple, but to date it’s been largely limited to Apple and, to a lesser extent, the Android Market. The Wholesale Applications Community plans to initially use JIL and OMTP BONDI requirements to work towards a common standard within a year. Eventually, they hope to establish a common standard where apps can be ported across mobile platforms.

The amount of fragmentation in the app world has only been increasing, so it should be a relief to developers and consumers to see an effort to streamline the process while at the same time opening it up. It’ll be interesting, though, to see how quickly and effectively they can pull actual standards together. With that many chefs, it can be hard not to spoil the soup.

Leading Operators Unite to Unleash Global Apps Potential

Wholesale Applications Community to push apps market to over 3 billion customers with strong support by world-leading device manufacturers

BARCELONA, Spain—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Twenty-four leading telecommunications operators have formed the Wholesale Applications Community, an alliance to build an open platform that delivers applications to all mobile phone users.

“This approach is completely in line with the principles of the GSMA, and in fact leverages the work we have already undertaken on open network APIs (OneAPI). This is tremendously exciting news for our industry and will serve to catalyse the development of a range of innovative cross-device, cross-operator applications.”

América Móvil, AT&T, Bharti Airtel, China Mobile, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, KT, mobilkom austria group, MTN Group, NTT DoCoMo, Orange, Orascom Telecom, Softbank Mobile, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telenor Group, TeliaSonera, SingTel, SK Telecom, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, VimpelCom, Vodafone and Wind are committed to create an ecosystem for the development and distribution of mobile and internet applications irrespective of device or technology.

Together, these operators have access to over three billion customers around the world. The GSMA and three of the world’s largest device manufacturers – LG Electronics, Samsung and Sony Ericsson – also support this initiative.

The Wholesale Applications Community aims to unite a fragmented marketplace and create an open industry platform that benefits everybody – from applications developers and network operators to mobile phone users themselves.

The alliance’s stated goal is to create a wholesale applications ecosystem that – from day one – will establish a simple route to market for developers to deliver the latest innovative applications and services to the widest possible base of customers around the world. In the immediate future the alliance will seek to unite members’ developer communities and create a single, harmonised point of entry to make it easy for developers to join.

“The GSMA is fully supportive the Wholesale Applications Community, which will build a new, open ecosystem to spur the creation of applications that can be used regardless of device, operating system or operator,” said Rob Conway, CEO and Member of the Board, GSMA. “This approach is completely in line with the principles of the GSMA, and in fact leverages the work we have already undertaken on open network APIs (OneAPI). This is tremendously exciting news for our industry and will serve to catalyse the development of a range of innovative cross-device, cross-operator applications.”

Jonathan Arber, Senior Research Analyst at independent analyst house, IDC, said: “Attracting and retaining developers is vital for any application store offering to succeed. However, mobile application developers currently face a high level of fragmentation in the industry, in terms of both technology platforms, and individual operators’ working practices. Developers want to meet the largest possible addressable market, as efficiently and painlessly as possible, and the Wholesale Applications Community initiative can meet these criteria by providing a simple, single point of access to a large number of operator storefronts. The initiative should also help to drive uptake of existing, open standards among developers, operators and manufacturers, thereby reducing fragmentation and benefiting the whole industry.”

The alliance plans to initially use both the JIL and OMTP BONDI requirements, evolving these standards into a common standard within the next 12 months. Ultimately, we will collectively work with the W3C for a common standard based on our converged solution to truly ensure developers can create applications that port across mobile device platforms, and in the future between fixed and mobile devices.

The alliance will serve as one point of contact for the industry and is open to all relevant parties – from telecommunications operators and device manufacturers to internet service providers and application software developers. For more information go to www.wholesaleappcommunity.com or email [email protected].

Sexting may seem like a relatively recent phenomenon, but in truth it’s as old as mankind itself. Here’s a walk back through the illustrious history of the SMS booty call:

Marilyn Monroe to JFK
Pierre Curie to Marie Curie
Elizabeth Bennet to Mr. Darcy
Anon. to the Marquis de Sade
Romeo to Juliet
Guinevere to Lancelot
Marc Antony to Cleopatra
Adam to Eve

Bad Valentine is our own special take on the beauty—and awkwardness—of geek love.

If anyone deserves a Lego version of himself, it’s John Lasseter. Pixar’s visionary creative head was in New York today to promote Toy Story 3 and its merchandise when he was honored with this bricktastic commemorative bust. Plus: new toys!

Also on-hand: Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich, Pixar staple voice actor John Ratzenberger, and a whole mess of new toys:

June 18th. Can. Not. Wait.

Toy Fair is the annual event where we get to completely regress back to childhood and check out all of the awesome toys coming out for the rest of the year. And well, we love toys.

Forget grades of wool—the clothing of the future’s going to be measured in millivolts. Researchers at UC-Berkeley have created electricity-generating nanofibers that could someday be woven into your clothing.

The fibers are about 100 times thinner than a human hair, but can generate electrical outputs of up to 30 millivolts. Even better, their piezoelectric properties allow them to mechanical stress and twisting into electricity:

Although they are still working out the exact calculations, the researchers noted that more vigorous movements, such as the kind one would create while dancing the electric boogaloo, should theoretically generate more power. “And because the nanofibers are so small, we could weave them right into clothes with no perceptible change in comfort for the user,” said Lin, who is also co-director of the Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center at UC Berkeley.

This isn’t the first exploration into wearable nanogenerators, but it’s the only attempt so far at using an organic material, in this case polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). It’s a cheaper, more flexible solution that has a better shot at being productized. If it is, you’d conceivably be able to power your gadgets from your t-shirt. Wait… does that mean the Feel Bright Light Visor wasn’t such a bad idea after all? [UC Berkeley]

I’m loathe the side against robots, given their proven professional wrestling superiority. But this cat… this cat’s got strategy. Step one: ignore. Step two: avoid. Step three:

THWAP. Hellloooooo, kitty. [DVice via BotJunkie]

Apologies to all the other brilliant Valentine’s e-greetings at someecards, but this is the only one you should need to truly prove your love. [someecards]

This is actually wonderful. Barbie’s had 124 careers since 1959, ranging from Stewardess to Paratrooper. Today she gets her 125th: computer engineer. You can tell she’s smart ’cause she’s got glasses, and reads nothing but binary.

Barbie’s latest career move is also significant for being the first decided entirely by online vote. Though maybe it’s not so surprising that the internet community was especially inclined to see a Bluetooth-rocking geektastic Barbie.

She’s been around for decades, but Barbie’s every bit the influencer that she’s always been. Will this inspire a generation of women to become computer scientists scientists? Probably not. But it might go a long ways towards dispelling any unfair preconceptions about the computer sciences.

Full release below, but first: can anyone tell me what the binary on her screen says? I hope it’s not just a bunch of stories about unicorns. That might defeat the purpose.

The Vote Is In: Barbie® Unveils Her 125th and 126th Careers
For the first time ever, Barbie® asked the world to help her select her next career. Over the past few months Barbie® did research around the world and also conducted an online voting campaign, calling upon the world to vote for her doll’s next career – Barbie® has asked her Twitter followers and fans on Facebook to help her with this important career decision.

But that’s not all! Consumers loudly campaigned for another Barbie® career. The winner of the popular vote is Computer Engineer. Computer Engineer Barbie®, debuting in Winter 2010, inspires a new generation of girls to explore this important high-tech industry, which continues to grow and need future female leaders.

“All the girls who imagine their futures through Barbie will learn that engineers – like girls – are free to explore infinite possibilities, limited only by their imagination,” says Nora Lin, President, Society of Women Engineers. “As a computer engineer, Barbie will show girls that women can turn their ideas into realities that have a direct and positive impact on people’s everyday lives in this exciting and rewarding career.”

To create an authentic look, Barbie® designers worked closely with the Society of Women Engineers and the National Academy of Engineering to develop the wardrobe and accessories for Computer Engineer Barbie®. Wearing a binary code patterned tee and equipped with all the latest gadgets including a smart phone, Bluetooth headset, and laptop travel bag, Computer Engineer Barbie® is geek chic.

Always a trailblazer, Barbie® continues her impressive career path in 2010 and throughout the new decade as she takes on these two new aspirational careers. Both News Anchor Barbie® and Computer Engineer Barbie® are currently available for pre-order exclusively at www.MattelShop.com.

An Onion News Network piece that makes fun of NASA and awkward flirtation all at once? Be still my laughing heart. Seriously, though: it’s good to have an eight-year plan.

Bad Valentine is our own special take on the beauty—and awkwardness—of geek love. [The Onion]