Author Archives: Peter J Lennartsson

Nokia and In-Location Alliance to improve indoor positioning

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Nokia Indoor Navigation

Nokia Research Center has developed Indoor Navigator to provide precise indoor location information on a handset, without needing GPS. (Image Credit: © Nokia)

Nokia this week announced the new In-Location Alliance that will be working on the innovation and promotion of a new standard-based short-range wireless technology, that will make it possible to locate objects or positions indoors with extremely high accuracy, using mobile devices. The In-Location Alliance includes more than 20 tech companies across different industries, with Nokia being one of the founding members.

Nokia, wanting to become the “Where platform”, already have quite a few positioning services in the works, and have talked about Indoor position for a while. To speed up the adaptation, and with hopes to create a unified standard, Nokia now seek a cooperation with other high profile name from the mobile industry such as Broadcom, CSR, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, and Sony Mobile Communications. Neither Apple or Google is however part of this new Alliance.

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Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1 has arrived in the U.S.

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Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1

Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1 now available in the U.S. (Image: © Samsung)

Samsung Electronics has finally announced it’s highly anticipated GALAXY Note 10.1 for the U.S. market. The device is available for purchase now across the U.S.at authorized retailers, and extends the GALAXY Note category. Samsung hopes to continue the success of last year’s worldwide popular smartphone with this new 10.1 inch model.

The Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1 delivers the functionality and precision of a pen and paper, by combining the S Pen with a 10.1-inch large display. It also comes preloaded with Adobe’s premium creative application, Photoshop Touch, that is optimized for Samsung’s S Pen to deliver best precision and control possible

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Ford invests to speed up electrification

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Ford C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid

Ford C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid, coming this fall.  (Image: © Ford)

Ford has just announced their investing $135 million in the design, engineering and production of key components like advanced battery systems for its next-generation hybrid-electric vehicles, going into production this year.

They are also dedicating a 285,000-square-foot research and development lab in Dearborn, Michigan to focus almost entirely on hybrids and electrification. Formerly known as the Advanced Engineering Center, the building will be renamed the Ford Advanced Electrification Center and will house most of the approximately 1,000 engineers working on Fords hybrid and electrification programs.

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Nissan reveal the Nissan NV200 London Taxi

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The Nissan NV200 London Taxi

The Nissan NV200 London Taxi (Image: © Nissan)

Back in September 2011, Mayor of London Boris Johnson called for a zero-emission taxi in London by the end of the decade. Today Nissan just unveiled the Nissan NV200 London Taxi, a vehicle that might just make that target achievable. The NV200 London Taxi will offer significantly reduced CO2 outputs compared to current taxi models. Something that should make the Mayor smile as it shares the same focus as his Air Quality strategy for London.

The NV200 will come in two version. One features a 1.5 dCi 89 HP EuroV diesel engine and a 6-speed manual drivetrain, that achieves 53.3 Miles per Gallon on a combined cycle. This achieves almost a 50% fuel saving compared to the, until now most efficient TX4, with it’s combined cycle figure of 35.3 Miles per Gallon. An all-electric e-NV200 concept is also set to undergo trials in the Capital.

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NASA Curiosity rover successfully land on Mars

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The Curiosity Rover

The Curiosity Rover 3D render (Image © NASA)

After traveling for 36 weeks from earth, and approximately 567 million kilometers (352 million miles), it was all down to the last 7 minutes to determine if the long travel was worth the wait.

By some called “7-minutes of terror”, the NASA Curiosity rover had to survive a complicated and intricate procedure to finally touch down on the surface of Mars. After months of waiting, now finally the scientists and engineers can breath a sigh of relief as the rover is securely seated on the surface of Mars.

The intense period called the entry, descent and landing (EDL) phase of the mission began when the spacecraft reached the top of the Martian atmosphere. At this time the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft, carrying the Curiosity rover was traveling at about 5,900 meters per second (13,200 miles per hour). EDL ended about seven minutes later,  with the rover placed stationary on the surface.

The NASA controllers, and the rest of the world, relied on NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter to provide confirmation of a successful landing. Odyssey was turned to the right direction before the landing procedure started so it could listen to Curiosity during the landing. The rover touched down on Mars at 1:31 a.m. EDT.

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BMW C evolution e-scooter, an eco-friendly concept vehicle

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Near-production prototype of the e-scooter BMW C evolution. (Image: © BMWBLOG.com)

With increased demands for individual mobility, and with more people moving in to the big cities, the need for an efficient, but environmentally friendly urban transportation solution is needed. You could of course buy a bicycle, a solution that has been available even longer then cars. A regular bike will take you where you want to go in your local area at zero carbon emission, and at the same time it gives you exercise. Yet today a lot of people still have a tendency to take the car, even for going to the local shop a 10 min walking distance down the road.

BMW Motorrad has seen the signs of the times and is expanding its business activities to include the facet of urban mobility. The first stage of development was an e-scooter concept vehicle presented at the BMW Motorrad Innovation Day 2011. Shortly after this, the corresponding design study of an e-scooter saw its premiere, the BMW Concept e. The latter embodies the aesthetic vision of an electrically powered scooter. On July 27th 2012 in London, BMW Motorrad presented the highly promising third stage of development. The near-production ready prototype of an e-scooter that might soon become part of everyday road traffic in cities throughout the world, the BMW C evolution.

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Amazon announce plans for media development center in London

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Glasshouse Yard, London - United Kingdom

Glasshouse Yard, London – United Kingdom

At the beginning of last year Amazon purchased LoveFilm, a European film subscription service, and then followed up by acquiring Pushbutton, a company that specialize in designing and building user interfaces. Amazon have now announced plans to combine the two UK-based media companies and their teams, and create a new international center for digital media development near Silicon Roundabout in central London, England.

Amazon might be a US firm with it’s headquarters in Seattle, but they still say London was the obvious choice for their new digital media development center. According to Amazon, Great Britain has led the way in pioneering on-demand services, which allow users to rent films and television over the Internet. It’s also worth noting that both LoveFilm and Pushbutton were founded in London.

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LG introduce new premium IPS7 cinema screen design monitors

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LG IPS7 series monitors

LG Electronics new premium IPS7 series monitors (Image: © LG)

LG Electronics (LG) just announced the global roll-out of their new premium IPS7 series monitors. The launch will first start in the Asian markets of Korea and China, including Hong Kong, and other markets are yet to be announced. The monitors feature LG’s own Cinema Screen Design, with an impressively thin 1.2mm bezel for an unobstructed viewing experience, lifelike color consistency, and also a wider viewing angle. This is made possible by using IPS technology developed by LG. The IPS7 series also feature Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) that makes it easy to connect external devices, like smartphones, for viewing content on a larger screen.

“By combining CINEMA SCREEN Design and MHL functionality with the industry’s leading IPS technology, the IPS7 series is able to offer stunning design and performance”, said J.J. Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of the IT Business Unit of the LG Home Entertainment Company. “With the rapid growth in the number of mobile smart devices such as smartphones and tablets, the availability of content has greatly expanded. LG’s IPS7 expands the user experience, enabling viewers to take full advantage of this content-rich environment.”

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Cisco announce it has acquired privately held firm Virtuata

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Cisco acquires Virtuata

Cisco has announce that it has acquired privately held company Virtuata, based in Milpitas, Calif.

Cisco Systems yesterday announced in a blog post by Hilton Romanski, vice president of corporate development at Cisco, that they have acquired the privately held company Virtuata, based in Milpitas, Calif. Virtuata develops new and innovative methods for securing virtual machine level information in data centers and cloud environments. According to the announcement, this acquisition will enable Cisco Systems to provide a consistent and enhanced security for virtual machines, and allow administrators to accelerate the deployment of multi-tenant, multi-hypervisor cloud infrastructures.

Virtuata was founded in October 2010 by Joe Epstein, a former engineer at Oracle, and Peter Danzig, that has among other things been an instructor at Stanford University, and a professor at the University of Southern California. Epstein held the role as CEO for Virtuata, and Danzig held the position as chief strategy officer.

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GE desalination technology achieves 99% water recovery rate

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GE’s AquaSel NTBC Pilot Plant

GE’s AquaSel Non-Thermal Brine Concentrator Pilot Plant (Image © GE)

General Electric recently demonstrated a breakthrough water treatment method, they call AquaSel non-thermal brine concentrator (NTBC) technology, that virtually eliminates any water losses in ingredient water production. At a major global beverage company in Asia, GE recently conducted a pilot study were they achieved a near-zero liquid discharge (ZLD), and reduced water costs, without the normal energy expenses associated with a thermal evaporation system.

With today’s technology, bottling companies typically use 75 to 85 % of the incoming water for bottled water and the variety of soft drinks they produce, and the rest is discharged as a waste stream. Using GE’s AquaSel technology, these companies could safely treat and reuse the water, to achieve 99+ percent recovery in their plants.

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