Samsung develops battery capable of double the capacity we have now
Samsung Electronics' research arm has just created something that will truly trump Apple in a few years time, where the South Korean giant has just developed a new technology that will pave the way for all-day battery life on smartphones and tablets.
The new technology will see Samsung create a silicon cathode material for coating high crystal graphene on a silicon surface to usher in an energy density that is nearly two times more than existing lithium batteries. Current lithium batteries were developed and commercialized by Sony in the 90s, and have slowly been getting better and better, but the material itself has its limitations.
Most of the development of high-capacity battery materials has been done in the US, but there is a major technological problem that shortens the life of a lithium battery from constant charging and discharging. The R&D center of Samsung Electronics has succeeded where no one else has, developing a high-density and very durable cathode material by coating the strong and conductive graphene on the surface of the silicon, in order to create a type of protective shell around the silicon.
Continue reading: Samsung develops battery capable of double the capacity we have now (full post)
Google engineer says humans will be hybrids by 2030 thanks to nanotech
We're only 15 years away from the year 2030, where we're expected to see human brains assisted by nanobot implants that will turn us into "hybrids", according to one of the world's leading thinkers.
The Director of Engineering at Google, Ray Kurzweil, has said that in the 2030s, we will see implants connecting humans to the cloud. We would then be able to pull information from the cloud, from our own brains, all while information will be allowed from your brain to the cloud, letting you back your brain up to the cloud. You know, in case of a bad hangover one night, you could just restore your brain to the night before. #backsupforlife
Kurzweil has said that as the cloud accessing our brain improves (and before Skynet takes over), our thinking and cognitive abilities would expand quicker than we can imagine. At first, it would be a "hybrid of biological and non-biological thinking", but as we shift into the 2040s, most of our thinking will be done off-brain, and would thus be non-biological. Think, "OK Google, can I afford to buy pizza tonight" or "OK Google, what is 5.2 million divided by 2.39".
Continue reading: Google engineer says humans will be hybrids by 2030 thanks to nanotech (full post)
#GuysCuddlingWithVideoCards, start cuddling your video cards
Forbes' Jason Evangelho has kicked one of the most awesome things I've ever seen for video cards, where he started off by posting a picture of himself on his Facebook cuddled up to the HBM-powered AMD Radeon R9 Fury X.
AMD's Roy Taylor kicked in posting his own photo, and then offering $2 to the charity of Jason's choice for every picture, up until $500 is raised for the hashtag #guyscuddlingwithvideocards. Well, I have countless video cards here in my office, so I covered my daughter from head to toe in video cards and snapped the above photo! Great fun!
You can support Jason right here.
Continue reading: #GuysCuddlingWithVideoCards, start cuddling your video cards (full post)
Intel's enthusiast Skylake-S 'K-series' will ship without stock cooler
With Intel all set to unveil their new Skylake-S series of processors at Gamescom 2015 in August, we're hearing that the new 'K-series' enthusiast processors will not ship with a stock cooler.
Intel is set to release its Core i7-6700K processor a week after Windows 10 is released, with Intel aiming at enthusiasts buying their own high-performance air, or liquid cooling system for their new CPU. The chipmaker will be offering a new PCG 2015D high performance air and liquid cooling solutions, but the processor itself will ship without a HSF.
The next question is, will Intel drop the price to counter that the processor doesn't include a stock cooler, or will Intel make more profit per K-series CPU it ships, thanks to not giving consumers a cooler.
Continue reading: Intel's enthusiast Skylake-S 'K-series' will ship without stock cooler (full post)
BlackBerry shows interest in creating bacteria-free smartphone
BlackBerry isn't giving up on smartphones, and is looking for opportunities to create phones in the workplace - including in hospitals, where a bacteria-free device could be needed.
BlackBerry CEO John Chen didn't confirm if the company is already working on a bacteria-free smartphone, but has shown interest. "Healthcare workers have to be worried about one less thing to wipe down" if they have a bacteria-free phone, Chen recently noted.
Bacteria and infections are transferred between doctors and patients, causing a "huge issue," said Dr. Aviv Gladman, chief medical information officer at Mackenzie Health, in a statement published by Bloomberg.
Continue reading: BlackBerry shows interest in creating bacteria-free smartphone (full post)
Nadella: Gaming is critical to 'broader vision for Windows' OS
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently sent an email to all of the company's employees, as everyone anxiously awaits the Windows 10 launch, and wants to help "empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more."
Not surprisingly, gaming earned its own spot in the email:
"We will pursue our gaming ambition as part of this broader vision for Windows and increase its appeal to consumers," Nadella said in his email to employees. "We will bring Xbox Live and our first-party gaming efforts across PC, console, mobile and new categories like HoloLens into one integrated play."
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DICE feeling the pressure while developing Star Wars Battlefront
Electronic Arts was happy with the reception that Star Wars Battlefront received during E3, and is continuing to push forward with the latest Star Wars game.
EA COO Peter Moore noted that the company would delay the game if it wasn't right, and another company official noted the "10,000 ways to f***" up game development - and how it's promoted to the public.
"No, but I think we've reached a point where we're worrying less about what we are doing and what we have done. Before you a show a game to the world, there's ongoing speculation about it," said Patrick Bach, GM at DICE, in a statement to GameSpot. "There are 10,000 ways to f*** this up, and people are super detailed on how we will screw up. And I read these posts and I think, hey, I think fans are going to be super happy with what we're doing."
Continue reading: DICE feeling the pressure while developing Star Wars Battlefront (full post)
Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick doesn't want to burn out franchises
Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick wants to release quality game titles to its customers, and that doesn't mean risking game quality - and possible burnout - just to launch a title.
Take-Two has been criticized in the past for heavy reliance on Grand Theft Auto, but Zelnick noted that while the company has evolved, there has been added diversification of its product lineup. In addition, Zelnick is aware of a common concern among game studios and publishers: burning out a franchise with sometimes unnecessary yearly releases:
"I think the biggest distinction between us and some of our competitors is we don't annualize our non-sports titles, and that's for a couple of reasons," Zelnick recently told Games Industry. "One is we want to have the highest quality in the business and that takes time, and two, we like to rest our IP in between releases because we believe that's what keeps it fresh and permanent. We don't want to burn off our franchises. It's an unusual strategy - I think we stand alone with that strategy, but it's really paying off."
Continue reading: Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick doesn't want to burn out franchises (full post)
Bethesda is "pretty close to being done" work on Fallout 4
Bethesda Softworks is almost done with Fallout 4 development, and everything is looking good for a fall launch.
"We're pretty close to being done, which you have to be if you're going to ship in five months," said Pete Hines, VP of PR and Marketing at Bethesda, in a statement to GamesRadar.
Hines also noted the overall anticipation for the game, which is why there has been such a short window of game promotion: "If we didn't feel that was enough time to generate the excitement that we expected and the interest that we wanted, then we would have announced it earlier. So part of it is because we felt like it was a big enough title that we could get away with it."
Continue reading: Bethesda is "pretty close to being done" work on Fallout 4 (full post)
Senators tear into OPM director for data breach, cybersecurity issues
The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) suffered a devastating data breach that has impacted millions of people - and the agency is now trying to move too fast and isn't following best practices. The OPM is relying on systems that are "decades-old" and apparently has no idea what they are actually doing to prevent future cybersecurity issues.
"It may sound counterintuitive, but OPM must slow down and not continue to barrel forward with this project," said Patrick McFarland, Inspector General of the OPM, while speaking to the Senate Homeland Security Committee. "The agency must take the time to get it right the first time."
Sen. Ron Johnson (R - WI) and Sen. John McCain (R - AZ) have called into question the Obama Administration's commitment to overall cybersecurity. The "OPM has become a case study in the consequences of inadequate action and neglect," Johnson recently said. Meanwhile, McCain questioned if OPM agency director Katherine Archuleta should stay in her current role, especially after offering conflicting reports regarding OPM's breach damage.
Continue reading: Senators tear into OPM director for data breach, cybersecurity issues (full post)