Transforming device interconnectivity, Thunderbolt™ technology is a dual protocol I/O innovation that dramatically increases transfer performance with bi-directional 10Gbps speed and offers daisy chaining to multiple devices, providing flexibility and simplicity for innovative, thin system designs like laptops and Ultrabooks™.
Rethink I/O transfer
Enhancing performance with innovative design, Thunderbolt technology combines PCI Express* and DisplayPort* I/O protocols onto a single highly-efficient metaprotocol. Single cable transmission along with traffic routing management (supporting daisy chains and hot-plugging devices) and intelligent hardware controllers like PCIe* deliver off-the-shelf connectivity to nearly any technology imaginable. And DisplayPort meets industry needs by supporting multiple HD displays and up to eight channels of HD audio.
As the building block to Thunderbolt technology, Thunderbolt controllers contain a high performance cross bar Thunderbolt protocol switch, a PCI Express switch, and one or more Thunderbolt ports, DisplayPorts, and PCI Express protocol adapter ports. By integrating all the features necessary to implement Thunderbolt into a single chip, the host-side controller enables system vendors to easily incorporate Thunderbolt technology into their designs.
Changing the PC industry
Leveraging the I/O protocols on a single transport enables engineers to innovate new system design configurations, allowing for standalone performance expansion technologies that use existing native device drivers. Thunderbolt technology also enables the introduction of thinner and lighter laptops without sacrificing I/O performance, and extends to reach other I/O technologies by using PCIe-based adapters, making Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire, or eSATA easy to create.
Several innovative companies announced Thunderbolt-enabled products or plans to support Thunderbolt in upcoming products, including Apple Inc., Promise Technology, Inc., and LaCie. Intel works with the industry to enable a variety of Thunderbolt-based products, including computers, displays, high-speed data storage devices, audio and video devices, and more.
Parrot’s Zik wireless headphones with touch panel and NFC technology
Parrot's Zik wireless headphones feature a touch panel on the right earpiece
Parrot certainly has tried to pack as much technology as possible into its first pair of wireless headphones. Alongside the standard Bluetooth connectivity, the company’s new Zik headphones feature active noise cancellation technology, a touch panel on the right earpiece, a head detection sensor, bone conduction sensor, five microphones and, in a headphone first, integrated near field communication (NFC) technology.
Like Parrot’s Zikmu wireless speaker system, the Zik headphones were designed by French designer Philippe Starck. The entire surface of the right ear cup is a capacitive touch panel that allows the wearer to swipe a finger horizontally to skip forward and back between tracks, swipe up or down to adjust the volume, tap to answer a phone call, or touch the panel for two seconds to reject a call. Additionally, sliding the headphones down around your neck will pause music playback and put the headphones in standby mode, donning them again will start them up again.
When listening to music or talking on the phone, two microphones located on the exterior of the headphones and two inside each headset analyze the ambient noise so the headphones can produce opposite acoustic waves to block it out. Parrot says this active noise canceling (ACN) technology allows the headphones to eliminate up to 25 db of ambient noise.
The headphones are also designed to make it easier for the person on the other end of the line to hear the wearer better, with a bone conduction sensor located in the cushion of the left earpiece detecting the wearer’s jaw movements and matching these movements to the speech so it can be separated from the surrounding noise.
The Zik headphones are also the first on the market with NFC technology, with a tag in the left headset allowing Bluetooth pairing with NFC compatible devices by touching them to the left ear cup.
The Zik’s 40 mm Neodynium drivers are rated at 32 ohms and pump out a frequency range of 10 Hz to 20 kHz with a sound pressure level of 110 dB per volt at 1 kHz. Parrot including a DSP algorithm dubbed “Parrot Concert Hall” that promises to recreate a concert hall listening experience and place the music in front of you. This effect can also be customized via the free “Parrot Audi Suite” app available for iOS and Android, which is also used to turn the CAN on and off, modify the equalizer and check the battery level.
The downside of all this technological wizardry is the hit it inflicts on battery life. The Zik’s 800 mAh lithium ion battery, which is recharged via microUSB, will provide power for around six hours with all features activated, around 18 hours with only ANC activated, and up to 24 hours in standby mode. However, the battery is swappable, with Parrot selling spares for US$30. The headphones can also be used when the battery is flat via an included 3.5 mm jack cable.
The Zik headphones measure 150 mm (5.9 in) wide by 198 mm (7.8 in) deep by 80 mm (3.1 in) deep and weighs 325 g (11.5 oz). They will be available from late July/August for US$399 in the U.S., GBP349 in the U.K. and AUD$499 in Australia.
Is there room for a vehicle like the eROCKIT in the future of motorcycling? BusinessWeek thinks so,explaining: “The driver’s pedaling motions charge the batteries and control the motor, which multiplies the rider’s effort by a factor of 50. The faster you pedal, the faster the 12 horsepower electric motor rotates. The high torque of the electric motor enables spectacular acceleration.” If you don’t pedal, the eROCKIT will not move. But when you do pedal, top speed is 80 kph (50 mph). We’re not taken with the awful techno-moped styling, but we do like the claim—cue Brüno accent—that riders are left with a “feeling of possessing unnatural powers”. The man behind this contraption is German Stefan Gulas, who is planning a limited series of ten production bikes before the end of 2009. Next step is to find a partner for large-scale production. Any takers with large kugelsacks? [Thanks to Max Lecointe.]
Chances are you will start seeing more Brammo electric motorcycle around you.
GE Capital’s Commercial Distribution Finance (CDF) business has agreed to provide Brammo Inc. with inventory financing to support the expansion of its dealer network in the U.S.
The Ashland, Ore.-based manufacturer designs and develops electric motorcycles.
This means dealerships already supporting the brand will be able to keep a better inventory and there is one less worry for dealerships considering carrying the brand.
In addition to supporting the expansion of a rapidly growing American company, this announcement reinforces GE’s commitment to accelerate the adoption of hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles globally.
“We’ve proven that we can successfully marry technology with performance and now we’re ramping up our efforts to deliver our unique products to the marketplace,” said Craig Bramscher, founder and CEO of Brammo. “This program with GE Capital will support the rapid growth of our distribution network, allowing leading motorcycle dealerships to capitalize on the growing demand for electric motorcycles.”
CDF already provides inventory financing for other brands of alternative fuel and hybrid motorsports products. This type of arrangement, also known as floorplan financing, allows dealers to stock, market and sell a wide variety of motorcycles and related products from manufacturers. It is an important element of a successful manufacturer-dealer business model.
How do you react to those new technologies that either take partial control of features of the car or send warnings when the driver gets off track?
Insurance claim analyses by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) show an early crop of advanced crash avoidance technologies includes some clear success stories when it comes to preventing crashes.
Forward collision avoidance systems, particularly those that can brake autonomously, along with adaptive headlights, which shift direction as the driver steers, show the biggest crash reductions. Lane departure warning appears to hurt, rather than help, though it's not clear why, and other systems, such as blind spot detection and park assist, aren't showing clear effects on crash patterns yet.
“As more automakers offer advanced technologies on their vehicles, insurance data provide an early glimpse of how these features perform in the real world,” says Matt Moore, vice president of HLDI, an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). “So far, forward collision technology is reducing claims, particularly for damage to other vehicles, and adaptive headlights are having an even bigger impact than we had anticipated.”
HLDI analysts looked at how each feature affected claim frequency under a variety of insurance coverage for damage and injuries. Clear patterns were seen in claims under property damage liability (PDL) insurance, which covers damage caused by the insured vehicle to another vehicle, and collision insurance, which covers damage to the insured vehicle. The model years of the vehicles included ranged from 2000 to 2011, depending on when an automaker introduced a feature. Insurance data through August 2011 were used.
The crash avoidance systems studied were all offered as optional equipment. The automakers supplied HLDI with identification numbers of vehicles that had each feature, allowing HLDI to compare the insurance records for those vehicles with the same models without the feature.
Forward collision avoidance
Forward collision warning systems alert the driver if the vehicle is gaining on the traffic ahead of it so quickly that it is about to crash. Some of these systems are also equipped with autonomous braking, meaning the vehicle will brake on its own if the driver doesn't respond in time.
Claims for the front-to-rear collisions that forward collision avoidance systems are meant to address are common under PDL coverage, and HLDI found the technology reduces PDL claim frequency. Claim frequency under collision coverage, which includes many of the same crashes that fall under property damage liability but also a lot of single-vehicle crashes that these systems are not designed to address, was reduced but by a smaller amount. Some reductions also were seen for injury claims.
Adaptive headlights
Adaptive headlights respond to steering input to help a driver see around a curve in the dark. The headlights' horizontal aim is adjusted based on the speed of the vehicle, direction of the steering wheel and other factors so that the lights are directed where the vehicle is heading.
HLDI looked at adaptive headlights offered by Acura, Mazda, Mercedes and Volvo. As with forward collision warning, bigger benefits showed up in PDL claims for damage to other vehicles than in collision claims for damage to the insured vehicles. PDL claims fell as much as 10 percent with adaptive headlights. That was surprising, since only about 7 percent of police-reported crashes occur between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. and involve more than one vehicle. An even smaller percentage are multiple-vehicle, nighttime crashes occurring on a curve, where adaptive headlights would be expected to have an effect. It's possible that other differences between the adaptive headlights and conventional ones besides steerability — for example, in brightness or range — may have played a role in reducing crashes with other vehicles.
Lane departure warning
In contrast to the better-than-expected results for adaptive headlights, lane departure warning systems from Buick and Mercedes appeared to have the opposite of their intended effect. Both were associated with increased claim rates under collision and PDL coverages and for injuries to occupants of the insured vehicles. Although the increases were not statistically significant, the results suggest these particular systems aren't reducing overall crashes. Volvos with lane departure warning had lower claim frequencies under most coverages than Volvos without the feature, but those vehicles also had forward collision warning with auto brake, which more likely accounts for the benefits.
“Lane departure warning may end up saving lives down the road, but so far these particular versions aren't preventing insurance claims,” Moore says. “It may be that drivers are getting too many false alarms, which could make them tune out the warnings or turn them off completely. Of course, that doesn't explain why the systems seem to increase claim rates, but we need to gather more data to see if that's truly happening.”
Cockpit Controls Now Available As A Wrist Tablet and Mega Helmet
Aviation Warrior Raytheon's new Aviation Warrior system means airmen and women are never alone, even when they're outside the cockpit.Raytheon
Equipped with a huge helmet and a handy wrist-attached device, future fighter pilots will have maps, surround sound, radar and infrared vision all at their fingertips — even when they’re outside the cockpit. Raytheon’s new Aviation Warrior system, unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show in the UK, gives an airman or woman all the information a pilot might need, all in a wearable system.
The best part might be the head-up display in the form of a monocle. This gives the newly “all-seeing pilot” access to all the data he or she might need. The Aviation Warrior is part of a suite of new tools Raytheon is showing off at Farnborough.
Raytheon All-Seeing Pilot: Raytheon
The wearer could hear enemy fire in surround sound, and see with 360-degree vision through sensors positioned around the helmet. The pilot would be able to see in infrared to peer through dust storms or in the dark, according to Raytheon. This would enable a landing in difficult terrain — the system can peer through the floor of a helicopter or airplane.
The Aviation Warrior system includes a wrist-mounted, iPhone-like screen, which can display maps, radar or surveillance video, the defense company says.
Remember Scott O’Grady? The American F-16 pilot ejected over enemy territory in 1995 during the Balkan conflict, and survived on grubs and grass for a week. This system could conceivably prevent similar harrowing survival stories in the future, by equipping pilots with all their planes’ 21st-century technologies on his or her body — so it will all work even if the plane itself is ditched. Here’s a video showing how it works.
An untethered jailbreak means you can turn off your device and reboot without the use of a computer. A tethered jailbreak means you can not reboot your device if you turn it off without the use of a computer.
You can use PwnageTool to back up your baseband while updating to a new firmware: PwnageTool for iOS 5.0.1 Unlock iPhone 4 with UltraSn0w 1.2.5: Tutorial
4.10.08 Baseband Unlock: Not Currently Available
What is Jailbreaking?
Jailbreaking is a process that allows iDevice (iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad) users to gain root accesses to their device, taking down Apple’s harsh resections. Jailbreaking generally installs an app called Cydia that acts as a third party installer allowing users to customize their device with apps, tweeks, themes, and things not possible in the Apple App Store.
