Author: Danielle

What good is a single atom these days?

Well, aside from being essential for, I dunno, most everything, you can now store data on one. That is right, store data on a single atom. But how did researchers achieve that?

In IT Blogwatch, we jump on the miniaturization bandwagon.

What is going on? Mike Wehner has some background:

IBM…announced…that it…successfully managed to store data on a single atom,…an achievement that could potentially change the way storage devices are developed in the future…modern hard drives utilize roughly 100,000 atoms to store a single bit, so shrinking things down to the size of just one atom is obviously a massive achievement.

Remind us what a bit of data exactly is again? Michael Irving has that info:

For those who don’t pay…attention to the wizardry going on inside their computer, hard disk drives store data magnetically, as a series of tiny magnetic dots on a sheet of metal. Each dot represents one bit of data: a demagnetized dot represents a zero…if it’s magnetized, it’s a one.

And they managed to get that on a single atom? How did they even do that? Mike Murphy is in the know:

IBM’s researchers found a way to magnetize individual atoms of the rare earth element holmium and use the two poles of magnetism…as stand-ins for the 1s and 0s. The holmium atoms are attached to a surface of…magnesium oxide, which holds them in place, at a chilly 5 kelvin (-450°F). Using essentially what is a very…small needle, the researchers can pass an electrical current through the holmium atoms, which causes their north and south poles to flip, replicating the process of writing information to a traditional magnetic hard drive. The atoms stay in whatever state they’ve been flipped into, and by measuring the magnetism of the atoms at a later point, the scientists can see what state the atom is, mirroring the way a computer reads information it’s stored on a hard drive…IBM says the researchers used a single iron atom to measure the magnetic field of the holmium atoms.

What does this mean for the future? Tas Bindi tells us:

IBM…demonstrated that two magnetic atoms could be written and read independently even when they were separated by just 1 nanometre, which could culminate in a magnetic storage system…1,000 times denser than today’s hard disk drives and solid state memory chips. Additionally…such a system could…store significantly more data which could pave the way for smaller datacentres, computers, and mobile devices.

So is this something we are going to start seeing around? Stephen Lawson can answer that:

Don’t expect to see a phone the size of your little finger anytime soon. This project is pure research…For one thing, their experiment required conditions that aren’t practical for most devices. It needed an ultra-high vacuum, low vibration, and liquid helium for a super-low temperature.
…
The team just wanted to achieve the maximum possible density…Now researchers can use what IBM learned to develop new high-density storage that works outside a lab, probably using a small number of atoms that can help each other remain stable at room temperature.

So what are people saying about all this? Darryn Ten sums it up nicely:

Oh my that’s impressive.

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For almost as long as we can remember (and we do remember when you had to pay for iOS updates!) Apple has released the new version of iOS in September each year along with the new iPhone(s). See also: Best new phones coming in 2017

In 2017 we can’t see the company deviating from its established routine. And 2017 is set to be a belter for Apple – and its fans – since it’s the 10^th anniversary of the original iPhone.

The rumours and leaks for the iPhone 8 continue unabated, but while this year’s hardware could well include some impressive new tech, what’s the story for iOS 11?

When is the iOS 11 release date?

Although the final public release of iOS 11 will be on the day new iPhones go on sale, we expect Apple will show off the new OS on 5 June at the opening keynote to its WWDC event for developers. While the event is meant to get app developers excited about the new features, it also serves to whip up a public appetite for both the software and – naturally – the new hardware.

In the past couple of years, Apple has allowed anyone that wants to to sign up for the beta programme and install the early test version of iOS on their iPhone and iPad. This usually starts in July, and you can update to subsequent beta versions until the ‘final’ version becomes available in September.

It’s never the final version of course, because iOS is updated regularly throughout the year.

What are the rumoured new features?

Another rumour, which makes sense, is that Apple will add VR support to iOS 11. Android has it in the form of Daydream, and we’re sure Apple won’t want to ignore VR entirely. It may be that only the latest iPhone(s) will support VR because of the processing power and low-latency response times required, though.

Better Siri

Virtual assistants have been leapfrogging each other since they appeared, but Siri is due for an upgrade. It’s fairly capable, but not all that intelligent and is now lagging behind Google’s Assistant.

Apple is reportedly working on making Siri sound more natural and now that it’s open to third-parties, we expect to see many more apps to start using it (even before iOS 11 comes out)

Customisable Control Centre

This isn’t a rumour, but it’s been on our wish list since iOS 8. The Control Centre is great, but if you’ve ever used an Android phone, you’ll appreciate how nice it is to be able to customise the shortcuts so you get quicker access to the features and tools you use most.

In iOS – including the latest version of iOS 10 – you can’t customise the Control Centre at all.

Easier access to video settings

We’ve moaned about this in our iOS reviews for a couple of years now, but it’s so frustrating that the video recording settings aren’t in the Camera app. If you want to switch between 1080p at 60fps and 4K at 30fps (for example) you have to spend about 20 seconds doing it through the Settings app.

All we want is a simple cycle through the few modes in the Camera app itself. Is that so much to ask?

For more on what we want to see, check out our full iOS 11 wish list.

Which iPhones and iPads will get iOS 11?

That’s another question we can’t yet answer definitively. Recently, Apple has kept more older devices up to date than we were expecting, but the oldest tend to miss out on most of the best new features.

The iPhone 5 runs iOS 10, for example, but it misses out on the brilliant Memories feature in Photos (among other absentees).

It wouldn’t surprise us if only the iPhone 5 and 5C drop off the upgrade cycle this year, along with the iPad 4 and iPad mini 2.

That would leave the following models which – in theory – should get the update to iOS 11:

• iPhone 7
• iPhone 7 Plus
• iPhone 6s
• iPhone 6s Plus
• iPhone 6
• iPhone 6 Plus
• iPhone SE
• iPhone 5s

• iPad Pro 12.9-inch
• iPad Pro 9.7-inch
• iPad Air 2
• iPad Air
• iPad 4th gen
• iPad mini 4

• iPod Touch 6th gen

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Crowdfunding platform Indiegogo intervened to stop a handheld retro computer console campaign from acquiring further funding, the BBC has learned.

The Spectrum ZX Vega+, backed by Sir Clive Sinclair, had achieved its original crowdfunding target.

Bur then Indiegogo halted further fundraising because of delivery delays and a lack of communication to backers.

The project’s organisers had asked the BBC not to reveal the development.

The BBC understands no consoles have been delivered to backers, despite a pledge last month that they would “ship after 20 Feb 2017”.

And the company behind the project – Retro Computers Limited – suggested these details might put its team at risk.

“Following a credible threat of violence against personnel of Retro Computers Limited, including threats made as recently as last night, we asked [technology desk editor] Leo Kelion and the BBC to refrain from publishing a story we believe to be factually inaccurate and might put people at risk of physical harm, alarm and distress,” Retro Computers Limited founder David Levy said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Since December 2016 the BBC have formally been on notice that this is a police matter, and we ask that the BBC and Mr Kelion do not compromise the police investigation.”

The BBC delayed publication of this report to give RCL managing director Suzanne Martin time to provide evidence of the threats, but she did not do so.

In the meantime, the Gizmodo news site also published and then deleted an article about the matter because it too was told of threats.

Refund requests

RCL had already received more than £513,000 ($624,000) from Indiegogo crowdfunders for the Vega+ .

And before the fundraising campaign was halted, the project had been listed as “in demand” to allow new people to become backers, despite having already reached its funding target.

But in recent weeks, many backers have expressed anger that they still have not received their console and claimed their requests for more information were going unanswered by the company.

Although, Indiegogo is clear in its terms and conditions that those who back a project are supporting an idea rather than buying a product – and that hardware in particular tends to be more difficult to deliver.

In 2015, RCL brought a different Sinclair computer to fruition after a smaller campaign.

Lawyers’ letter

RCL originally said the new Spectrum ZX Vega+ was due to go into production in the summer of 2016 and it might even “be able to improve on this delivery date”.

But in December 2016, after the BBC contacted RCL to ask about the status of the Vega+, the broadcaster was threatened with legal action.

“Our clients are concerned that the BBC is in fact supporting and participating in a malicious campaign intended to denigrate our clients’ reputation,” wrote lawyers Michelmores LLP in a letter to the broadcaster.

They went on to request that the BBC show them its report at least 48 hours ahead of publication so they could identify any false information, which the BBC refused to do.

Ms Martin then apologised to backers for the delays and said there had been unexpected issues with the console buttons.

“In November, we identified an improvement we believed was essential to the Vega+ gaming experience,” she said at the time.

“An improvement that would make the feel of the product far better, including a correction in the design of one of the buttons, making it more robust and able to withstand the rigours of extended game-play.

“We also wanted to make sure we did justice to the Sinclair legacy.

“This change has caused a brief delay, and we are truly sorry about that, but we needed this time to improve the product, and we have now completed the necessary revisions, and we are delighted to announce that we will ship the first units in February 2017.”

Since then, RCL has suggested it had been unable to respond to some backers’ requests because of a business dispute with two former directors.

And in its last public update, 11 days ago, the company released some technical details about software used by the device.

‘Last chance’

Many recent comments left by backers on RCL’s Indiegogo page, which remains live but has stopped taking funds, are requests for refunds.

“I don’t expect a response. I’m just being polite in letting them know this is their last chance before they have to deal with small claims court,” wrote a backer called Paul Brookfield.

“Please receive this email as written notice of cancellation of my pledge and a request for a refund,” wrote Drew Miller.

“I no longer believe you are capable of providing the product I pledged for in April, considering the drastic number of delays and your lack of communication toward fellow backers.”

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Smart lighting specialist, Sengled, has added a wireless IP camera to its energy efficient lamp to create a staggeringly simple security system (priced at £180 – around $220, AU$290). In fact, the combination seems so logical, we’re surprised there aren’t more such products in this category. Anyone looking for a security light will surely be happy to find they can also see and record the people approaching their property. 

There is, however, one catch that should be pointed out before we go any further. The light does not come on when you approach, as the motion sensors only trigger the camera. More on this later.

What this product will do, with the assistance of its companion app, is film your whole room through its wide-angle lens in Full HD quality, and stream the 1080p video to your phone free of charge, or store it in the cloud for a monthly fee.

You can choose to receive alerts when motion is detected, communicate through the device’s two-way speakers, and dim the LED light on a sliding scale. 

You can even make your camera public and share your feed with strangers, so obviously, you’ll want to make very sure this feature is permanently disabled from the off.

Design and installation

Really, this security camera couldn’t be easier to install. Simply screw it in place of your existing E27-type bulb. Okay, so in the UK, that might mean buying an adapter for your bayonet fitting (like we did), but it’s by far the simplest security solution out there. We found that a pendant light in our front reception room got a good all-around view of the hallway and any new faces that entered the building. 

The lamp is surprisingly large and heavy in real life, weighing 604g, so it’s unlikely to fit inside your existing outdoor light fittings, and although it is splash resistant to some extent (IP53-rated) it is by no means rainproof.

Dangling pendant fittings will be the most likely candidates for hosting the Snap bulb and because of its very wide-angle lens, the camera will still manage to pick up the faces of the people moving below. 

With the lamp screwed into its fitting, you can then rotate the camera to get the correct orientation.

Features

From the box and with no subscription, Snap can send a live video feed in 720p or 1080p quality to your smart device. It also acts as a dimmable smart light that can be set on a schedule and controlled remotely.

It’s only when you take out a subscription that the motion-activated video clips are recorded automatically and alerts can be sent to your phone. A one-day subscription costs €3.50 (around £3, $3.50), and allows for your video to be stored on Sengled’s servers for one day – and motion detection is unlocked. A 30-day sub costs €18.50 per month (around £16, $20), which works out slightly more expensive than rivals such as Nest.

A speaker and mic is built-in, so you can potentially communicate, in somewhat clipped tones, to visitors, or use the Snap as a baby monitor.

Performance

Installing Snap might be very easy, but the companion app does leave room for improvement. There’s not much to it, but the software still manages to frustrate with its unintuitive menu.

Picture quality is up to scratch in 1080p mode, and the wide view manages to capture the whole room, or a large outdoor area. Picture quality drops dramatically in low light, but then picks up when the IR kicks in at night. Zooming from 2x to 4x also seriously degrades the image.

There is some delay with the motion detection, so a fast moving burglar could dash through the hallway without appearing in the recorded clip at all, but it’s on par with most IP cameras.

As a smart light, the Snap is useful and flexible, with the ability to set up a schedule and a preferred brightness via the Snap app. The only frustrating element is the way it won’t illuminate when you walk beneath it. 

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The Neewer TT560 flash is compatible with Canon Digital EOS, Nikon DSLR and most cameras with a hot shoe. It also works with Sony cameras using an adapter. The flash unit has 8 steps of power output control which are indicated by 8 LED lights. Save 35% with this lightning deal and get it for just £19.54. This offer ends in 3 hours.

You may also be interested in the following offers

£62.88 for the 240GB Goldendisk SDD
Revive any computer with this SSD by Goldendisk. With 240GB of storage space, it’s 10 times faster than a standard 7200RPM hard drive. It’s also totally silent and more reliable as the SSD has no moving components. Get the 240GB Goldendisk SSD for just £62.88.

Get the EFOSHM Fitness Bracelet for £29.99
The EFOSHM Fitness Bracelet can track your daily activities and monitor the quality of your sleep. It counts steps, calories burned as well as distances. The built-in screen displays time and alerts, and vibrations let you know when it’s time so get out your sit. The tracker is compatible with Andoid and iOS smartphones. Get it today for just £29.99 with free delivery in the UK.

45% off the the Mpow Universal Bike Mount Holder.

This smartphone holder can be fitted on any bike, motorcycle or scooter with a handlebar of 1.1″. No tools are required with just a screw on the flipper and it’s designed with a one-button released function. It’s suitable for any smartphone of up to 5.7″. For extra security the clamp automatically adjusts to grip the device that holds in place firmly thanks to a strong adjustable non-slip clamp with silicone band straps. Get the Mpow Universal Bike Mount Holder for just £8.29.

Save 71% and get the Rampow MFI Lightning Cable for £6.29.

Charge and sync your Apple devices with this Rampow MFI (Made For iPhone) Lightning Cable. It’s compatible with all 8 Pin Apple devices including the iPhone 5, 5C, 6, and later, but also iPod Nano 7, iPad mini 2, mini 3, mini 4, iPad Air, iPad Pro and later. The nylon cable provides additional protection against bent damage and the USB and Lightning casings are protected by an aluminium shell.

46% off the Mpow Smart Fitness tracker

The Mpow Smart Fitness tracker can track your daily activities and monitor the quality of your sleep. It counts steps, calories burned as well as distances. It has a built-in screen and connects to the smartphone via Bluetooth to display caller ID and messages. It can also display messages from Facebook, Titter, Whatsapp, and more. The Mpow Smart Fitness Bracelet can also track sleep and wake you up with silent alarms. Get it today for just £21.69 with free delivery in the UK.

Get the Veho M7 Bluetooth speaker for £69.99

With its retro design, the Veho M7 is a Bluetooth speaker to stream music from your smartphone or your computer. The dual acoustic drivers are coupled with two 10W speakers and the rechargeable battery delivers 10 hours of music. The Veho M7 is IPX4 rated meaning that it’s protected against dust and water. It also features a USB port to serve as a powerbank to charge your smartphone. Get the Veho M7 Wireless Speaker for £69.99 on eBay.

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Nvidia joined companies such as Facebook, Microsoft, Intel, and Google as part of the Open Compute Project (OCP), which aims to make servers more efficient without the high costs while also sharing the designs with the public. Specifically, what Nvidia brought to the table was a new hyperscale GPU accelerator.

The HGX-1, as it’s called, is made up of eight Tesla P100 GPUs, all of which utilize the new Pascal architecture. Depending on the workload, the CPU can designate one or all of the GPUs in the accelerator, a switching procedure that’s said to be based on Nvidia’s NVLink connection technology. When Nvidia announced its membership to the OCP, it did so by partnering with Microsoft, which will use the HGX-1 as part of its Project Olympus server design. The design also works with Intel’s latest Xeon Skylake CPUs, as well as AMD’s new 64-core Naples processor.

According to Roy Kim, Nvidia’s director of Tesla products, the time came for the company to join the OCP because it saw the opportunity to set a new standard in cloud computing.

“The fact is that industry standards accelerate innovation,” he said. “We saw that happening in the past when PC was just getting off the ground. We see that cloud computing is in the same junction in some sense. There’s some different designs in how to do AI, and we felt that working with Microsoft will come up with the standard that will quickly offer AI services.”

Kim also noted that the limit of eight GPUs per accelerator was due to power and design limitations. However, that doesn’t mean that companies won’t be able to connect multiple HGX-1s. Microsoft boasted that the Project Olympus design allows for up to four HGX-1 accelerators to be connected at the same time so that some workloads can utilize the full set of 32 GPUs. Kim mentioned that the HGX-1 isn’t just exclusive to Project Olympus; you can use it on any server design because of its use of PCIe ports.

Because the goal of the OCP is open source-oriented, any cloud vendor can grab the design specs and partner with a manufacturing company to create their own servers. In that regard, Nvidia doesn’t seem to make any profit. Kim said that the goal was to just create a standard for cloud computing.

“HGX-1 is the first instance of what we hope to be a roadmap,” he said. “Standards evolve and workloads evolve, and we’ll continue to work with Microsoft. Our goal was to provide a standard that we believe… is the best design for hyperscalers today.”

You can look at the Tesla P100 GPUs in detail on Nvidia’s website. As for the entire Project Olympus design, you can browse its hardware and specs on GitHub.

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Digital Domain announced that it added Sprawly to its growing portfolio of immersive video and VR technologies. Sprawly’s founders joined Digital Domain as part of the deal.

Digital Domain is a Hollywood visual effects company with a wide range of expertise in immersive technology. Digital Domain had a hand in creating hundreds of motion pictures, commercials, and video games, and recently the company steered its focus towards virtual reality experiences.

In 2015, Digital Domain partnered with Immersive Media to create IM360, which creates high-quality 360-degree video projects such as ABC’s Good Morning America’s 360-degree video segment on the African Safari, and the Nike “CourtVision” experience. Last year, Digital Domain entered the game developer market when it acquired Digital Funk Machine and used the assets to create Digital Domain Interactive. Later, Digital Domain announced a partnership with DreamWork Animation to bring the famous production company’s animated characters to virtual reality experiences.

After Digital Domain and Immersive Media formed IM360, the subsidiary announced the IM360 VR Toolkit, which gives filmmakers a 4K real-time preview of filmed VR content. Digital Domain’s latest strategic purchase strengthens the company’s portfolio of tools for working with 360-degree video. Sprawly developed a toolkit that lets creators built interactive 360-degree video experiences without the need for advanced technical knowledge.

Sprawly’s technology embeds “hotspots” into 360-degree video features that trigger other events, such as jumping to another clip or launching a web page. Sprawly previously offered its technology to anyone who wished to use it. It’s unclear if that will continue now that Digital Domain purchased the company, but the Sprawly website hasn’t changed yet. Digital Domain confirmed that Sprawly’s founders, Bobby Alexis and Eric Neuman, joined the Digital Domain team as part of the deal, though.

“Sprawly’s experience at providing tools for the VR community makes them an ideal addition to Digital Domain,” said Amit Chopra, Executive Director and COO, Digital Domain. “Eric Neuman’s expertise around 360° video interactivity and platform development will be a key skillset for building out our VR Platform, while Bobby Alexis will focus on expanding our footprint in VR and 360° video services across a number of sectors.”

Digital Domain didn’t comment on its immediate plans for Sprawly’s technology.

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