Computers

Dwindling supplies of 13-inch Macbook Airs at major retailers like Amazon lead some to speculate that Apple's prepping a Macbook Air refresh for next month's WWDC.

All right all of you would-be counterfeiters; it's time to go back to school. The US Federal Reserve is ready to introduce the first change to the $100 dollar bill in 17 years on October 8th. The redesigned bill will have many new security features, making duplication of the newer bill extremely difficult. Comments

By 2015, six billion objects in the world will be connected to the internet. While it may seem tricky to grasp as a concept, the internet of things is nothing simpler, and more stunning, than objects being connected to the internet. At its most mind-blowing, these objects are learning and adapting to the behaviour of the user. The internet has well and truly left the computer and is running amok in ‘things’, showing us how previously inanimate, everyday objects can be bought to life through being connected . The internet of things was first coined as a term in 1999 and it is now well and truly established ; no longer a vision of a future concept but an accessible reality. If you own a Nike fuelband, then you’re already enjoying the internet of things. The potential for the internet of things to challenge our concepts of what objects can do for us and how they can function in a connected network has been turned on its head. We’ve seen prerequisite technology such as RFID tags, once used for fairly mundane tasks as tracking stock in a warehouse, be employed to enable the internet of things, and new technology emerge such as Arduino that takes this to the next level. But rather than just being a catchall term, how does the internet of things really operate? Communicate with objects The internet of things relies on information travelling from one point to another, and it’s easiest to see the potential for this when you consider the impact of information flowing from YOU to an object. Nest  is a great example of this. A thermostat that you can actually communicate with, saving money and energy on heating in the home. Instead of just setting your thermostat at the start of winter and probably never touching it again, now you can text your thermostat with Nest, for example telling it if you’re going to be out for the evening unexpectedly, so there’s no need to turn the heating on. By being connected, Nest learns from you and gives you a better product experience : http://www.youtube.com/embed/Haq4oP3B4rE Objects are also being developed that will respond to automated actions, so they can learn all the time without you actually having to do anything. Twitter recently developed a ‘tweet controlled’ alarm clock that responded to tweets to animate wooden characters. Meet Flock: http://www.youtube.com/embed/Haq4oP3B4rE Now while this is clearly a bit of fun from Twitter, the use-cases here are wide reaching. It’s not too much of a stretch to imagine a similar object that responds to tweets, to dispense medication, for example being controlled by someone via private message to remind an elderly relative when it’s time to take their tablet. Objects communicating with each other What we’re starting to see emerge is that instead of one object connected to an owner, or a single trigger, objects are connecting with each other to allow a new type of communication. An innovative product on the market in this area is the Good Night Lamp. A network of objects consists of a ‘master’ lamp connected to mini lamps, so that when the master lamp turned on, all or some of the other lamps light up. For a hard-working parent who often misses bedtime, being able to say goodnight by turning off your kids’ bedside lamp is a pretty heartwarming concept: In the Cloud Where once you would need to have a physical connection to many objects to interact with them, the internet of things ‘in the cloud’ has changed all that. And traditional manufacturers are adapting to this fast. Bosch has developed an IP-enabled security camera for use by business and in the home, that will allow you to connect with your security system when you’re not there. When the system is installed, it’s as simple as accessing the Bosch iPhone app to access a real-time view wherever you are : Bosch isn’t the only manufacturer innovating in the internet of things here. Belkin recently released Echo Water and Echo Electricity: Echo water can be installed by anyone and is a simple device you a

The Star Trek franchise has affected the way things work technologically for several decades now and Bing is doing its part to honor the newest movie addition to the Star Trek legacy. Bing has added Klingon to its list of translated languages. You can translate Klingon to another language and vice-versa, even entire web pages for whatever twisted reason you may have. "Although there have been dictionary efforts with Klingon, there hasn't been a true translation service with full grammatical structure until now" Comments

There's supposedly an 8-inch version of the Samsung Galaxy 3 as well, slated to be revealed in June.

There have been reports that Yahoo's board will meet tomorrow to decide whether or not to make a $1.1 billion cash offer to buy Tumblr. There have been other reports that Facebook may swoop in with its own offer. After having conversations with two sources, we believe Facebook is not going to make an offer. There is speculation that Tumblr's banker, Frank Quattrone, leaked word of Facebook's interest in hopes of starting an auction and driving up Tumblr's price with Yahoo. We're told no such "auction" is happening. Tumblr could threaten to walk away from Yahoo's $1.1 billion, and force a higher bid that way, of course. Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.Join the conversation about this story »

You can really tell when a company is turning into a stuffy proper corporation; they start banning all of the fun things in life in the name of professionalism. In the case of Linkedin, members of the oldest profession are no longer welcomed to create profiles there. Welcome to the stodgy old world of the new Linkedin. The site welcomes users from a variety of professions, just not the oldest one, it seems. On Monday, LinkedIn added a clause to its user terms that bans working girls (and boys). Comments

Autodesk is doubling down on easy-to-use 3D design software after it announced the acquisition of Tinkercad for an undisclosed sum. The deal secures the long-term future of the Web-based 3D modeling tool less than one month after its founders announced plans to close it. Tinkercad’s tag line is ‘mind to design in minutes’  and the browser-based 3D modeling removes technical barriers to allow anyone — designers and non-designers alike — to create prototype designs or professional-looking renders. The software takes a focus on helping to create ‘fun and meaningful’ things using 3D printers — which, of course, are a hotly talked about topic today. Autodesk says it will add the service to its existing 123D family of apps and services which, like Tinkercad, are designed to remove hurdles that put non-techies off of using CAD software. It will also integrate elements of the Tinkercard technology across its 123D range, to help simply the services for users. Last month, Tinkercad Founder and CEO Kai Backman revealed that the two-year-old service would close in a phased initiative culminating in a June 31 2013 switch off. The decision was made in order to focus engineering resources on Airstone, the company’s new interactive simulation product. Now, the Autodesk deal, which is expected to close in 30 days, will keep the service open to its many users — which include corporates, academic — and end the freeze on the creation of new accounts. That’s an outcome that delights Backman: We are excited to have reached an agreement with Autodesk that will provide a solid home and bright future for Tinkercad. We found in Autodesk a shared vision for empowering students, makers and designers with accessible and easy to use software, and with their global reach and expertise in democratizing design, we’re confident in their ability to introduce Tinkercad to new audiences around the world. Autodesk VP of consumer products Samir Hanna also emphasized the synergy between the company and its incoming acquisition: Tinkercad is a natural extension of the Autodesk 123D family as well as our other apps and services for consumers, as it is already used alongside Autodesk products. We look forward to welcoming the Tinkercad community to Autodesk and to continuing their mission of accessible 3D design for all. Tinkercad raised $1 million in seed funding in November 2011. Headline image via Thinkstock

mikejuk writes "The new Arduino robot looks a bit like a robot vacuum cleaner, but it has a lot more going for it and it certainly doesn't suck — well not unless you add an air pump to it. As always, the Arduino Robot is completely open source and comes as an easy to assemble kit involving no soldering, just some plugging in of components. It consists of two circular boards, 19cm in diameter, each with its own Arduino controller. They fit together to create a stack about 10cm tall. The bottom board has two wheels and motors which allow it to move in any direction. The top board contains lots of sensors and a central display. The two communicate via a serial connection. There is also a lot of space for expansion. There is a new library which can be downloaded to help write programs for this fairly sophisticated robot. There is only one big problem with the Arduino robot — you can't buy one at the moment. If you really can't wait, until early July when they should start shipping from the Arduino shop and from distributors, then you will have to get to the Maker Faire San Mateo (May 17-19) where they are being demonstrated and sold." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

If you think you have a fast Wi-Fi network with great download speeds, check this out. A German Technology Institute has set the transfer record at 40 GB per second for .6 of a mile. This is not a sustainable speed by any means, but it's good enough for some great bragging rights. What makes this possible is a combination of better hardware and the use of higher radio frequencies, in this case, 240 gigahertz Comments