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<title>Haaze.com / hundigranna / Published News</title>
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<pubDate>Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:10:23 +0000</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Sony's small Alpha NEX-C3 (hands-on)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sonys-small-alpha-nex-c3-hands-on</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sonys-small-alpha-nex-c3-hands-on</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:10:23 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>hundigranna</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sonys-small-alpha-nex-c3-hands-on</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[MIT software could bring 'DNA origami' to the masses]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mit-software-could-bring-dna-origami-to-the-masses</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mit-software-could-bring-dna-origami-to-the-masses</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 27 Apr 2011 07:10:57 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>hundigranna</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mit-software-could-bring-dna-origami-to-the-masses</guid>
<description><![CDATA[DNA molecules are not merely carriers of information. They are also highly stable and programmable, which is why researchers have been working so feverishly on a design strategy called DNA origami.And now a team at MIT is developing a program that makes the game playable by more than just a select few.Mark Blathe of MIT(Credit:Dominick Reuter)DNA origami--constructing specific 2D and 3D shapes out of DNA strands--could prove to be a highly effective means of developing nanoscale tools, such as synthetic photocells that perform artificial photosynthesis and highly targeted drugs (think of sending a cancer drug to hunt down a specific tumor).But it's still young. Paul Rothemund of CalTech first introduced DNA origami in 2006 (thereby making the cover of Nature and delivering a TED Talk showing tiny DNA smiley faces), and William Shih's lab at Harvard Medical School was able to up the game from 2D to 3D a few years later.The result is that today a small number of brilliant and highly specialized minds are bent over a nanoscale game of origami, playing with various sequences to try to build specific shapes for specific tasks. Imagine a room of highly sophisticated gamers playing with building blocks in a world without Tetris' if they had the game, they'd be able to work faster.This is where the team at MIT, led by biological engineer Mark Bathe, comes in. They've developed software that makes it far easier, with a given DNA template, to predict the three-dimensional shape that will result.&quot;They're sort of building blocks, but it's even more crude because DNA is just a sequence,&quot; Bathe says. &quot;It's taking the places you would connect the DNA together and predicting with a computer what it would look like in the final shape. The goal is to really have this be in the inverse, so the designer wants to make a box or a basket or a gear and then the program tries different folding combinations to give you the shape you want.&quot;DNA comprises a string of four nucleotide bases called A, T, G, and C, with A binding only with T and G only with C. Rothemund found that he was able to get a long strand of DNA to fold using a viral genome that consisted of 8,000 of these nucleotides to create 2D stars, triangles, and yes, those smiley faces. That one strand served as a scaffold for the rest of the structure, with literally hundreds of shorter strands (only 20 to 40 bases in length) combining with the long strand to hold its desired shape.Bathe says his software presented a mathematical and computation challenge, but that because DNA is governed by physics in terms of how it bends and twists and folds, DNA origami is very clean and obedient. Proteins, he says, are much messier, making protein-folding far more complex, which is why the game Foldit exists. (Researchers opened the process up to the masses in the hopes that a greater volume of people working on the problem might speed up progress.)Bathe and his team, who haven't resorted to a game just yet, provide a primer of their software in the Feb. 25 issue of Nature Methods, and they're already working on making the program more automated and &quot;unsupervised,&quot; because at this point it's still largely manual.&quot;Designers still have to guess the rules and then based on the shape modify the rules to get closer to the shape,&quot; Bathe says. &quot;It's the Holy Grail to say, 'I want this,' and then it happens. We've made quite some progress already, so I think in the next half year to a year that should be coming out.&quot;Ever the optimist, Bathe was quoted in the MIT news release saying, &quot;Once nonspecialists can design arbitrary 3D nanostructures using DNA origami, their imaginations can run free.&quot; Ever the realist, I had to ask whether such an achievement might also be risky in the wrong hands. For Bathe, this is the conundrum we face in light of most advancements' the potential for progress, he hopes, far outweighs the risks.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Predator: A camera that learns as it goes along]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=predator-a-camera-that-learns-as-it-goes-along</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=predator-a-camera-that-learns-as-it-goes-along</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 06 Apr 2011 07:10:21 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>hundigranna</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=predator-a-camera-that-learns-as-it-goes-along</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A U.K. Ph.D. student has developed a smart camera that can not only follow objects, but can learn from its tracking mistakes and then recalculate to track more accurately. Zdenek Kalal from the University of Surrey's Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing, developed the Predator system to help the disabled use computers. For example, Predator can &quot;track a tip of a pen held in the mouth and act as a computer mouse for a paralyzed person.&quot; But a system enabling motion tracking setups to learn from mistakes and improve their function could mean upgrades to everything from consumer trackpads to weapons systems. The Predator system resembles already established motion-controlled technology such as Xbox 360's Kinect, appliance-friendly SoftKinetic gesture recognition systems, and emerging models of motion-capturing Web cameras like the CP Technologies Deluxe. What sets it apart is its ability to learn from its errors and adjust its behavior--just as a human would gain better dexterity with experience.For his work on Predator, Kalal recently took home the Technology Everywhere award--and more than $3,000. The award recognizes &quot;a contribution to developing computing technologies that impact modern society.&quot; It's sponsored by IBM and the EPSRC, or (deep breath) Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the U.K.'s research funding council. For the big award reveal, representatives from industry and academia joined U.K. governmental ministers from the Department of Business Innovation and Skills at the Church House Conference Centre in London. &quot;I really like to work on problems that may have impact very soon and to provide simple solutions that can be applied in various areas,&quot; Kalal said during his acceptance speech in London. And Kalal's work is taking him to various areas, as he already presented his work at conferences in Japan, China, the U.S., and Europe.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Can any tablet challenge the iPad]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=can-any-tablet-challenge-the-ipad</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=can-any-tablet-challenge-the-ipad</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 11 Mar 2011 08:10:30 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>hundigranna</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=can-any-tablet-challenge-the-ipad</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:James Martin/CNET)As theiPad juggernaut continues with today's launch of the iPad 2, can any othertablet maker truly compete with AppleThe odds seem to be against it, at least according to the results of a survey released yesterday by ChangeWave Research. Questioning more than 3,000 consumers last month, ChangeWave found that 27 percent of them plan to buy a tablet, 2 percentage points more than a similar poll found last November.Among those eyeing a tablet, 82 percent said they'll opt for an iPad. That number compares with 4 percent looking into a Motorola Xoom, 3 percent considering Research In Motion's upcoming BlackBerry PlayBook, 3 percent for Samsung's Galaxy Tab, and 8 percent for an assorted array of other tablets.It's important to note that the survey was conducted before the Xoom was released and before Apple announced the iPad 2, so we don't know if or how the responses would be different now. But another point in Apple's favor is the wave of already happy iPad users.Among current iPad owners polled by ChangeWave, 70 percent said they're very satisfied with the tablet and another 25 percent said they're somewhat satisfied. Only 2 percent admitted to being somewhat unsatisfied, while apparently no one said they were very unsatisfied with the device.Curious to see if the iPad was cannibalizing sales away from other devices, ChangeWave asked if there were other gadgets consumers initially planned to buy or that they canceled in favor of an iPad.A total of 11 percent of those polled pointed to laptops, while 10 percent named Netbooks as devices they rejected in favor of an iPad. E-book readers also were hit, with 17 percent of the consumers saying they opted for an iPad instead of an Amazon Kindle. Another 9 percent collectively decided against other e-readers, including the Sony Reader and Barnes &amp; Noble's Nook.The impact of the iPad on e-readers has been debated since Apple's tablet launched almost a year ago. One survey conducted in July found that the iPad was putting pressure on sales of e-readers as well as portable game consoles.But among the range of device makers struggling to compete with the iPad, Amazon is one company that could give Apple a run for its money, according to research firm Forrester. Under this scenario, however, Amazon would compete not with the Kindle but rather with its own branded tablet.In a blog posted yesterday, Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps pointed to some reasons why rival tablets have struggled against the iPad.Calling the Xoom, PlayBook, HP TouchPad, and other tablets &quot;solid products with fatally flawed product strategies,&quot; Epps said that these devices are too expensive compared with the iPad and don't offer potential customers the user-friendly experience of popping into an Apple store. Those are two reasons why Forrester predicts Apple will grab 80 percent of the U.S. tablet market this year.Instead, Epps believes Amazon could design and sell a low-cost tablet running Android or Linux with access to its own online store as well as its upcoming Android app store. In doing so, Amazon would be able to skirt past Apple's guidelines on publishers and other app developers who sell content both through the Apple App Store and through their own stores.Further, Forrester's research shows that consumers want not only cheaper tablets but also ones not tied to expensive data plans from mobile carriers. Amazon could sell such a tablet at or below cost, says Epps, and make its profit by selling content, same as it does with the Kindle.Finally, Amazon has the brand, content, and channel to tie together a tablet, according to Epps. The analyst cited a survey that found consumers would be more comfortable buying a tablet from a familiar online retailer such as Amazon as opposed to a mobile carrier. And Amazon already sells e-books, videos, games, and other content ripe for digital consumption.Amazon itself has been looking into launching devices beyond just the Kindle, though no word yet on just what those devices might be.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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