Monday, June 6, 2011
Software Turns Mobiles Into Wi-Fi Hotspots
Here’s a cool use for a phone that has both cellular broadband and Wi-Fi: Turn it into a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot so your friends can surf the Internet on their laptops.
A couple startups have created and made available software like this in the last year. But a more established software maker said Wednesday that it has created a package for carriers to offer their customers.
TapRoot Systems Inc. of Research Triangle Park, N.C., said it was talking with carriers about providing their customers with the software, which would let up to five Wi-Fi users connect to a phone.
A possible free trial version would let only one Wi-Fi user connect to the phone at a time.
The software works on phones with Windows Mobile or Symbian S60 software. Windows phones are common in the U.S., while Symbian is championed by Nokia Corp. and more common in Europe. There already is an independent program called WMWifirouter that turns Windows phones into hotspots, and there’s one called JoikuSpot for Nokia phones.
Capacity is limited on third-generation cellular broadband networks, and carriers are somewhat restrictive of the applications they allow, for fear their networks will be overwhelmed.
Silent Sound Technology: An End To Noisy Communications
You are in a movie theater or noicy restaurent or a bus etc where there is lot of noice around is big issue while talking on a mobile phone. But in the future this problem is eliminated with ”silent sounds”, a new technology unveiled at the CeBIT fair on Tuesday that transforms lip movements into a computer-generated voice for the listener at the other end of the phone.
The device, developed by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), uses electromyography, monitoring tiny muscular movements that occur when we speak and converting them into electrical pulses that can then be turned into speech, without a sound uttered.
‘Silent Sound’ technology aims to notice every movements of the lips and transform them into sounds, which could help people who lose voices to speak, and allow people to make silent calls without bothering others. Rather than making any sounds, your handset would decipher the movements your mouth makes by measuring muscle activity, then convert this into speech that the person on the other end of the call can hear. So, basically, it reads your lips.
“We currently use electrodes which are glued to the skin. In the future, such electrodes might for example by incorporated into cellphones,” said Michael Wand, from the KIT.
The technology opens up a host of applications, from helping people who have lost their voice due to illness or accident to telling a trusted friend your PIN number over the phone without anyone eavesdropping — assuming no lip-readers are around.
The technology can also turn you into an instant polyglot. Because the electrical pulses are universal, they can be immediately transformed into the language of the user’s choice.
“Native speakers can silently utter a sentence in their language, and the receivers hear the translated sentence in their language. It appears as if the native speaker produced speech in a foreign language,” said Wand.
The translation technology works for languages like English, French and Gernan, but for languages like Chinese, where different tones can hold many different meanings, poses a problem, he added.
Noisy people in your office? Not any more. “We are also working on technology to be used in an office environment,” the KIT scientist told AFP.
The engineers have got the device working to 99 percent efficiency, so the mechanical voice at the other end of the phone gets one word in 100 wrong, explained Wand.
“But we’re working to overcome the remaining technical difficulties. In five, maybe ten years, this will be useable, everyday technology,” he said.
The device, developed by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), uses electromyography, monitoring tiny muscular movements that occur when we speak and converting them into electrical pulses that can then be turned into speech, without a sound uttered.
‘Silent Sound’ technology aims to notice every movements of the lips and transform them into sounds, which could help people who lose voices to speak, and allow people to make silent calls without bothering others. Rather than making any sounds, your handset would decipher the movements your mouth makes by measuring muscle activity, then convert this into speech that the person on the other end of the call can hear. So, basically, it reads your lips.
“We currently use electrodes which are glued to the skin. In the future, such electrodes might for example by incorporated into cellphones,” said Michael Wand, from the KIT.
The technology opens up a host of applications, from helping people who have lost their voice due to illness or accident to telling a trusted friend your PIN number over the phone without anyone eavesdropping — assuming no lip-readers are around.
The technology can also turn you into an instant polyglot. Because the electrical pulses are universal, they can be immediately transformed into the language of the user’s choice.
“Native speakers can silently utter a sentence in their language, and the receivers hear the translated sentence in their language. It appears as if the native speaker produced speech in a foreign language,” said Wand.
The translation technology works for languages like English, French and Gernan, but for languages like Chinese, where different tones can hold many different meanings, poses a problem, he added.
Noisy people in your office? Not any more. “We are also working on technology to be used in an office environment,” the KIT scientist told AFP.
The engineers have got the device working to 99 percent efficiency, so the mechanical voice at the other end of the phone gets one word in 100 wrong, explained Wand.
“But we’re working to overcome the remaining technical difficulties. In five, maybe ten years, this will be useable, everyday technology,” he said.
LATEST
A Neurochip That Can Communicate With Brain:
The University of Calgary, Faculty of Medicine scientists who proved it is possible to cultivate a network of brain cells that reconnect on a silicon chip—or the brain on a microchip—have developed new technology that monitors brain cell activity at a resolution never achieved before.
Developed with the National Research Council Canada (NRC), the new silicon chips are also simpler to use, which will help future understanding of how brain cells work under normal conditions and permit drug discoveries for a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Naweed Syed's lab cultivated brain cells on a microchip.
“This technical breakthrough means we can track subtle changes in brain activity at the level of ion channels and synaptic potentials, which are also the most suitable target sites for drug development in neurodegenerative diseases and neuropsychological disorders,” says Syed, professor and head of the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, member of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute and advisor to the Vice President Research on Biomedical Engineering Initiative of the U of C.
The new neurochips are also automated, meaning that anyone can learn to place individual brain cells on them. Previously it took years of training to learn how to record ion channel activity from brain cells, and it was only possible to monitor one or two cells simultaneously. Now, larger networks of cells can be placed on a chip and observed in minute detail, allowing the analysis of several brain cells networking and performing automatic, large-scale drug screening for various brain dysfunctions.
This new technology has the potential to help scientists in a variety of fields and on a variety of research projects. Gerald Zamponi, professor and head of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, and member of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, says, “This technology can likely be scaled up such that it will become a novel tool for medium throughput drug screening, in addition to its usefulness for basic biomedical research”.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
MACHINES
An Electrical machine is the generic name for a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy, converts electrical energy to mechanical energy, or changes alternating current from one voltage level to a different voltage level.
Electrical machines are divided into three main categories based on how it converts energy. Generators convert mechanical energy to electrical energy. Motors convert electrical energy to mechanical energy. Transformers change the voltage of alternating current.
Generator:
An electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A generator forces electrons to flow through an external electrical circuit. It is somewhat analogous to a water pump, which creates a flow of water but does not create the water inside. The source of mechanical energy, the prime mover, may be a reciprocating or turbine steam engine, water falling through a turbine or waterwheel, an internal combustion engine, a wind turbine, a hand crank, compressed air or any other source of mechanical energy.
There are two main parts of a generator which can be described in either mechanical or electrical terms. In mechanical terms the rotor is the rotating part of an electrical machine, and the stator is the stationary part of an electrical machine. In electrical terms the armature is the power-producing component of an electrical machine and the field is the magnetic field component of an electrical machine. The armature can be on either the rotor or the stator. The magnetic field can be provided by either electromagnets or permanent magnets mounted on either the rotor or the stator. Generators are classified into two types, AC generators and DC generators.
AC Generator:
An AC generator converts mechanical energy into alternating current electricity. Because power transferred into the field circuit is much less than power transferred into the armature circuit, AC generators nearly always have the field winding on the rotor and the armature winding on the stator.
AC generators are classified into several types. The first is asynchronous or induction generators, in which stator flux induces currents in the rotor. The prime mover then drives the rotor above the synchronous speed, causing the opposing rotor flux to cut the stator coils producing active current in the stator coils, thus sending power back to the electrical grid. The second type is synchronous generators or alternator, in which the current for the magnetic field is provided by a separate DC current source
DC Generator:
A DC generator produces direct current electrical power from mechanical energy. A DC generator can operate at any speed within mechanical limits and always output a direct current waveform. Direct current generators known as dynamos work on exactly the same principles as alternators, but have a commutator on the rotating shaft which convert the alternating current produced by the armature to direct current.
Electrical machines are divided into three main categories based on how it converts energy. Generators convert mechanical energy to electrical energy. Motors convert electrical energy to mechanical energy. Transformers change the voltage of alternating current.
Generator:
An electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A generator forces electrons to flow through an external electrical circuit. It is somewhat analogous to a water pump, which creates a flow of water but does not create the water inside. The source of mechanical energy, the prime mover, may be a reciprocating or turbine steam engine, water falling through a turbine or waterwheel, an internal combustion engine, a wind turbine, a hand crank, compressed air or any other source of mechanical energy.
There are two main parts of a generator which can be described in either mechanical or electrical terms. In mechanical terms the rotor is the rotating part of an electrical machine, and the stator is the stationary part of an electrical machine. In electrical terms the armature is the power-producing component of an electrical machine and the field is the magnetic field component of an electrical machine. The armature can be on either the rotor or the stator. The magnetic field can be provided by either electromagnets or permanent magnets mounted on either the rotor or the stator. Generators are classified into two types, AC generators and DC generators.
AC Generator:
An AC generator converts mechanical energy into alternating current electricity. Because power transferred into the field circuit is much less than power transferred into the armature circuit, AC generators nearly always have the field winding on the rotor and the armature winding on the stator.
AC generators are classified into several types. The first is asynchronous or induction generators, in which stator flux induces currents in the rotor. The prime mover then drives the rotor above the synchronous speed, causing the opposing rotor flux to cut the stator coils producing active current in the stator coils, thus sending power back to the electrical grid. The second type is synchronous generators or alternator, in which the current for the magnetic field is provided by a separate DC current source
DC Generator:
A DC generator produces direct current electrical power from mechanical energy. A DC generator can operate at any speed within mechanical limits and always output a direct current waveform. Direct current generators known as dynamos work on exactly the same principles as alternators, but have a commutator on the rotating shaft which convert the alternating current produced by the armature to direct current.
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