ReFlex is the smartphone that you're allowed to bend
There is a smartphone being developed that you can bend, and no, not like the iPhone 6 Plus.
ReFlex uses a Flexible OLED display from LG, similar to some of the rollable screens recently shown at CES this year, allowing you to bend it at your will. It's the first flexible phone that combines bend input with standard multitouch capabilities, meaning you can use touch interaction like a typical smartphone as well as interact with certain apps by bending the phone.
The research team from Queen’s University’s Human Media Lab uses the example of bending ReFlex to play Angry Birds and flip through a comic book.
ReFlex’s hardware isn’t flexible though — it uses an Android KitKat board on the side of the display, so don’t think this phone is completely indestructible.
“It’s the same architecture you would have in an Android smartphone,” researcher Paul Strohmeier told Mashable.
To detect bending input, Strohmeier said the phone uses a strain gauge indicator to measure how much strain is being put on the flexible screen. With that, ReFlex receives over 4,000 data points it can use to do things like control a cursor.
There is also vibration feedback detailed in the team’s study that simulates physical object interaction, similar to the feeling of bending a twig or rubber band.
ReFlex builds off of previous ideas and iterations of flexible devices, an idea that the team started bouncing around over a decade ago.
“We started working on flexible display interfaces 12 years ago with our first prototype PaperWindows,” researcher Roel Vertegaal told Mashable in an email. “We put out the world’s first tethered flexible phone — PaperPhone — five years ago.”
And they don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
“Future plans include detailed design of user interface elements specifically for bend input,” Vertegaal said. “ We also hope the phone will be commercialized within the next three to five years or so. We also hope the phone will be commercialized within the next three to five years or so.”
Strohmeier said the goal isn’t to replace touch input in smartphones with their own technology.
"This is a supplementary input method,” he said. “We don't suggest replacing touch with bending."
Data transmission rates are hitting ludicrous speeds in the lab
Imagine a world without buffering, a world where downloading HD movies takes less than one second, a world where your favorite web pages load before you even take your finger off the enter button. Don’t fret, we’re getting closer.
Researchers at the Optical Network Group at University College London published a study saying they have achieved a data transmission rate of 1.125 terabits per second, which is an absolutely insane amount of data. It also happens break the record for highest rate of data received by a single receiver.
Senior research associate Robert Maher told Mashable in an email that this transmission rate could send/receive the entire Game of Thrones TV series in less than a second.
“The entire five-season box set has a file size of 120 GB in HD,” Maher said. “As there are eight bits in a byte, you could transmit/receive this box set in just one second if the download rate was 960 Gbps.”
To compare, Maher said state-of-the-art commercial systems can usually receive rates around 100 Gbps, whereas the average broadband rate in the U.S. is 11.7 Mbps, according to Akamai’s State of the Internet Report. The UCL team’s record is over 100,000 times faster than the rate of your average broadband connection The UCL team’s record is over 100,000 times faster than the rate of your average broadband connection.
Unfortunately, you won't be able to go out and buy a 1.125 Tbps router anytime soon — the data was sent directly between the transmitter and receiver, so there's no long-range option at this time.
The team achieved the record by combining 15 lower-rate transmitters into a single super channel.
“This super channel is then routed as a single entity,” Maher said. “However, at the receiver, we detect the entire super channel in one go. Using this very high bandwidth receiver, we can record greater amounts of information.”
The team’s work was the result of a five-year collaborative project.
Google just patented a self-driving delivery truck
Google says it doesn't want to be a car manufacturer. But it never said anything about being a truck-maker.
As first reported by Quartz, a recent patent awarded to Google for an “autonomous delivery platform” hints it might have other aspirations for its self-driving tech.
The thing appears to be a rolling set of secured lockers. The idea is that Google would drive a delivery to a customer, the customer would come out to the truck and unlock their delivery locker with either a code, credit card or Near Field Communication (NFC) reader, which your smartphone likely already has. After the customer retrieves their item, the truck would drive off to the next spot.
The delivery truck is a clear shot across the bow to Amazon's delivery drone plan. Although certainly science-fiction-y, people are much more accustomed to seeing delivery trucks rolling around than they are seeing drones flying overhead. So, by that fact alone, the Google autonomous trucks have that going for them.
Google delivery truck patent
This patent falls just on the heels of a recent revelation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that found Google's self-driving systems can be considered "drivers" under federal law.
With that decision made and this new patent awarded, the chances that Google might have self-driving trucks on the road in the near future just became that much more likely.
What a time to be alive.
Google will stop serving Flash ads in 2017
Adobe Flash's death march continues. Google announced Tuesday that beginning June 30, display ads built in Flash can no longer be uploaded to AdWords or DoubleClick Digital Marketing — it's two biggest ad products.
In a Google+ post announcing the news, Google added that it will stop running Flash ads on Jan. 2, 2017.
The one minor caveat is that video ads using Flash will still continue to work and be served.
This is just the latest sign that Flash on the web is truly coming to an end. And that's a good thing, because despite the major role Flash played in the development of the modern web, it's time for the technology to go away.
Not only is Flash a frequent vulnerability target, it's non-existent presence on mobile has made it legacy technology with no real future.
Even Adobe renamed its Flash creation suite Adobe Animate CC last Fall.
Still, Flash has persisted on the web, in large part because plenty of advertisers still use it to serve displays ads. Google is in a unique position as both the market leader in both desktop web browsers and as an ad platform to help kill Flash altogether.
For its part, Google has offered HTML5 ad tools for years. And last year, it made HTML5 the default video player for YouTube.
Forcing advertisers to move to HTML5 for ads is what we hope will be one of the final steps in helping rid all of our web browsers of Flash.
The tech behind Super Bowl 50: 1,300 Wi-Fi hotspots, 16 camera angles and more
The Super Bowl is a long American tradition of brute force meeting skill on the gridiron as the world waits to see who will emerge victorious.
But in our newly tech-powered mediascape, how exactly will all that action find its way to the eyeballs of millions of footballs fans watching on Sunday? We investigated, talked to both the NFL and CBS, the official broadcaster (in the U.S.) to find out exactly how much tech it takes to put on football's Big Game.
The CBS broadcast will include:
256 microphones to record sound.
100+ cameras shooting pre-game and game footage for the TV show.
16 camera angles from eight new Pylon Cameras, the first time the Super Bowl has employed this on-the-field technique.
11 complete Avid editing suites, along with 10 graphics stations and a voiceover booth will work in real-time to produce the broadcast.
5K cameras to capture 360-degree game footage for quick playback in what the production calls "EyeVision 360."
3 aerial camera systems will work to capture game action from the sky.
Wi-Fi Access
This year the game's Wi-Fi access is being handled by Hewlett-Packard's Aruba Networks. The company will provide 1,300 802.11ac Wi-Fi access points throughout the stadium, supported beacons under every 100 seats.
The wireless connectively, which surfaced in a report from Network World, are expected to be able to handle the online activity of the almost 70,000 football fans in attendance. The report also notes that, compared to the data traffic from last year's Super Bowl 49, which was around 6 terabytes, the data traffic for Super Bowl 50 is expected to nearly double that at around 10TB.
Watching at the Game
If you have bad seats (stop — there are no bad seats at the Super Bowl, but anyway…) you'll still be able to catch the action via two 48-foot-tall and 200-foot-wide high-definition video boards situated above each end zone.
Additionally, the stadium has installed 2,000 Sony televisions around the stadium, ensuring that you'll be able to stay abreast of any expected developments if you need to leave your seat for the concession stand during the game.
Virtual Reality & Interactive Games
No, no, you won't be able to watch the game in virtual reality, but rest assured that, based on current developments, that's probably coming soon. What you will be able to do in VR is go through a football training program produced by SAP at its "Fan Energy Zone" in downtown San Francisco. The company will also provide interactive football experiences and games at the facility through a 50-foot-wide video wall. The wall will also display statistics from the Super Bowl game as it happens as well as user-generated content.
Neonotix Technologies Private Limited's photo.
Sensor-1 is the highly versatile security device you can stick onto anything
We all need security, whether for keeping an eye on your house when you’re gone, making sure nobody rifles through your files or opens up your laptop after you leave work, or just seeing if your 8-year-old is digging into the snack drawer when you’re not looking. There’s one little device that covers all these things and more.
The Sensor-1 is a movement-detecting security device about the size of a quarter. It sticks to surfaces with a 3M Command Strip and can light up and sound an alarm if moved, alert you if you’ve left it behind, or stealthily track how and when it’s moved.
The Sensor-1 by MetaSensor just released on Indiegogo at $79 per device and is estimated to ship around September.
How it works
“[Sensor-1] scans the environment and then it stores a measurement,” CEO and founder Nick Warren told Mashable. “If that measurement changes beyond a certain amount, then it alarms.”
After setting the alarm on the Sensor-1, it uses a combination of a gyroscope, an accelerometer and a magnetometer to judge exactly where and how much it moves. You can connect it to your phone or other devices via Bluetooth up to 300 feet, and it can then connect to the Internet and give you live updates on its status no matter where you are. If it isn’t connected, it stores 24 hours of movement data for when you come back within range.
There are other small, motion-detecting security devices like the Doberman, but they don't offer nearly as much customization and don't alert the user through Bluetooth on its movement.
It’s up to you how the device will react. The settings are controlled with the Aletha app, where you can change how the Sensor-1 lights up its three RGB LEDs, how loud it will sound its alarm (from silent up to 85 decibels), and even how much movement is required to trigger the alarm. The app will be available for iOS at launch, and the Android app is slated for late 2016.
There are also presets for specific objects like doors, bags or bikes There are also presets for specific objects like doors, bags or bikes. For the “bags, briefcases and luggage” preset, the alarm won’t be triggered unless it moves more than four inches, which allows you to adjust your bag a normal amount without it sounding off. Don’t worry about constantly fiddling with the app. You can set a proximity between you and your device so it won’t set off the alarm if you’re within a certain distance, otherwise you might be accidentally setting it off all the time.
The Aletha mobile app allows you to set how and when the Sensor-1's alarm goes off, which includes preset settings for specific objects.
In stealth mode — no lights or alarm — the device can run for up to a year on its easily replaceable coin cell battery, and its life will shorten depending on how much you want it to do.
There is also the “left behind” feature, where you will be notified if you and the device are separated by more than a certain amount of space. If you get up from a restaurant and leave your purse on the floor with a Sensor-1 inside, it could notify you before you walk out the door.
Sensor-1’s inspiration
The Sensor-1 has spent six years in research and development, and was inspired by events in Warren’s life where he would’ve benefitted from having something like the Sensor-1.
“In 2009, I was building a security system for my family because I was worried that their home might be robbed or something,” Warren said. “ A week before I gave them the device that I built them, their home was invaded and they were burglarized A week before I gave them the device that I built them, their home was invaded and they were burglarized.”
Warren said his father was sleeping with a CPAP machine so he didn’t hear anything, including the downstairs windows breaking.
Six months later, Warren was working at a foundation and someone who was well-dressed walked right in and left with one of their laptops.
“It had research data on it and financial information, and it hadn’t been backed up, so it was a significant event,” Warren said. “That was like the catalyst for this device [the Sensor-1]. We wanted something to stick on laptops and doors and office buildings.”
So that’s what MetaSensor made — a versatile, small security device that gives you multiple avenues to make sure whatever you want safe is safe.
You're 3x as likely to smash your phone if your team loses the Super Bowl
If you're a North Carolina or Denver native, try to keep your phone in your pocket on Sunday. Just in case.
People in the home states of losing Super Bowl teams request smartphone repairs almost 200% more the day after the big game than on an average day, according to smartphone repair and trade-in company iCracked.
A perfect storm of impassioned football fandom, coming this close to winning the championship and (probably) a higher-than-average blood alcohol level apparently leads to — who would have guessed? — a lot of shattered phone screens.
iCracked noticed the spike last year, iCracked spokesperson Jordan Barnes told Mashable. So it then looked two years back — and the spike was even higher.
"When we discovered the pretty hilarious trend, we knew sports fans across the U.S. would relate to the frustration of such a crushing loss," iCracked cofounder and CEO AJ Forsythe said in a statement. The company works with iPhones and Samsung Galaxy devices.
When the Seattle Seahawks lost last year, iCracked saw a 176% boom in repair requests in Washington, and when the Denver Broncos lost in 2014, Colorado saw a 184% increase in repair requests. when the Denver Broncos lost in 2014, Colorado saw a 184% increase in repair requests.
The days following holidays always see an increase in business, too, Barnes added.
“We have a running joke in the office that the Monday after [July 4th] is all-hands-on-deck every year,” he said.
iCracked sees a 51% increase in repair requests after Independence Day, a 50% increase the day after Halloween and a 68% increase the day after Christmas.
So whether you’re rooting for Denver or Carolina this weekend, keep your smartphone in your pocket or tucked away in a drawer — otherwise, you might regret it Monday morning.