Microsoft Researchers Get Fancy With A Sphere Display

Flat-panel displays might be all the rage, but at least in some situations, Microsoft thinks the shape of things to come might be a sphere. After months of rumors, Microsoft researchers are taking the wraps off a prototype that uses an internal projection and vision system to bring a spherical computer display to life. People can touch the surface with multiple fingers and hands to manipulate photos, play games, spin a virtual globe, or watch 360-degree videos.

Sphere, as it's known, is expected to be shown publicly for the first time this week at Microsoft's Faculty Summit in Redmond. For now, it's purely a research project. The company says it doesn't currently have plans to offer it as a product. The idea is to see what the technology can do, and how people will use it. Sphere is a cousin of the Microsoft Surface tabletop computer, already being used in retail and hospitality settings. The underlying hardware for Sphere is sold commercially by Global Imagination of Los Gatos, Calif., but Microsoft researchers made numerous enhancements and developed specialized software.

In a broader sense, the project reflects Microsoft's belief that many more surfaces will become computer displays, with embedded microprocessors, in the years to come. That view is championed by Craig Mundie, Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer, one of two executives filling Bill Gates' role at the company.

By their very nature, curved surfaces present unique challenges as computer displays. And in that regard, the sphere is the extreme example. The Microsoft researchers came up with advanced algorithms to translate images originally intended for a flat computer screen so that they appear properly on the rounded globe, on the fly. They also added an infrared system that can sense when hands or objects are placed on the sphere, to let people interact.

Apart from the technological challenges, Microsoft researchers are interested in seeing how people will interact with the Sphere. It has been shown at internal Microsoft events, but the hundreds of university scientists and researchers attending the conference will be among the first from outside to give Sphere a try.

Source [Todd Bishop - seattlepi]

India Developing US$10 Laptop

India is developing a laptop to be sold at US$10, that will target higher education applications, a minister of the federal government said Tuesday in Delhi.

Research on the new low-cost laptop is being carried out at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai, said D. Purandeswari, Minister of State for Higher Education, at a conference in Delhi. This measure will help raise the quality of higher education in India, she added.

The Minister did not however give the specifications of the $10 laptop, nor is it clear if the rock-bottom price will be achieved with the help of a government subsidy.

The Indian government is planning to use information and communications technology (ICT) to strengthen its current programs for distance learning by making them accessible online, Purandeswari said.

As part of this new "National Mission in Education through ICT", the government is also working on developing a very low-cost and low-power-consuming access device, according to Purandeswari. The government also plans to make available free bandwidth for education purposes to every Indian. It plans to use this bandwidth to build a "knowledge network" between and within institutions of higher learning in the country.

India's Internet penetration is currently very low. The country had 4.38 million broadband subscribers at the end of June for a population of over 1.13 billion.

A number of local and multinational companies like Microsoft and Intel, and NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) have been working on technology for education.

India did not sign up for the One Laptop Per Child program after officials in the education ministry decided that giving a computer to every child is "pedagogically suspect", and may actually be detrimental to the growth of the creative and analytical abilities of the child. An Indian telecommunications service provider, Reliance Communications, has however been doing pilots of the OLPC in India since last year.

Source [www.pcworld.com]

Review: iPhone 3G

When the original iPhone arrived in June 2007, it was greeted by massive hype and long lines at Apple and AT&T stores. But a lot of people who were interested in the iPhone held back, guided by a thoughtful and careful technological principle: "Never buy version 1.0."

With the release of Apple’s iPhone 3G and its new iPhone 2.0 software, the hype and the lines are back, but the era of iPhone 1.0 is officially over. Those who waited for the second edition of the iPhone will appreciate dramatically faster cellular data access and an impressive software update including a raft of third-party programs. For original iPhone buyers, however, the iPhone 3G is only a must-have upgrade for those who will take full advantage of the fast 3G data network.

What puts the iPhone 3G head and shoulders above the original iPhone is the addition of support for 3G networking. The third-generation wireless network that gives the iPhone 3G its name is much faster than the EDGE network. If you’re in an area with 3G network coverage, you’ll find that the iPhone 3G’s Internet connection is quite fast.

Phones on the 3G cellular network also have the capability to download data and make voice phone calls simultaneously. On the previous model of the iPhone, you couldn’t talk on the phone while downloading data over the phone’s cellular data connection. But if the iPhone 3G is on a 3G network, you can talk and check Google Maps simultaneously without trouble.

Visit MacWorld for the complete review.

IBM Develops Audio Masking Technology - Protect Call Center Recordings

Researchers at IBM's India Research Laboratory on Thursday said that they've developed a new data-masking technology to protect private information captured in call centers.

This is a very important piece of technology because IBM takes security and privacy concerns of its customers very seriously, and it's key to maintaining customer trust. IBM Research is playing a role in bringing innovation to IBM's services business, a synergy often overlooked. For IBM services clients with call centers, this technology should help ensure compliance with data security rules. This is a technology that can be used to mask sensitive data and promote compliance with the numerous privacy and security laws that exist.

Using speech analytics, the technology identifies sensitive information in audio recordings, such as credit card numbers, and masks it so that the data is only accessible to authorized people. With the help of metadata, the technology also masks sensitive information captured in recordings of call center computer screens, which are often associated with audio recordings.

The technology has been piloted in some call centers, but that IBM is not yet sure if whether it will be offered as a service or a shrink-wrapped product.

Source [Information Week]