INTEL HONORS YOUNG SCIENTISTS.

INTEL HONORS YOUNG SCIENTISTS.

The Intel Foundation recently announced top winners of the world's largest pre-college science fair, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), a program of Society for Science & the Public. Tara Adiseshan, 14, of Charlottesville, Va.; Li Boynton, 17, of Houston; and Olivia Schwob, 16, of Boston were selected from 1,563 young scientists from 56 countries, regions and territories for their commitment to innovation and science. Each received a $50,000 scholarship from the Intel Foundation. Three students from Pakistan also participated in this prestigious international competition. Winners of the Intel National Science Olympiad, held early this year in Islamabad, who represented Pakistan were individual project winner Malik Usama from Pak Turk International School and College, Khairpur with his project 'Waste water sewage treatment' and Group project winners, Mohammad Naeem Khan, and Zaki Hussain from Sir Syed Science College, Rawalpindi with their project titled 'Hovercraft.' In addition to the three $50,000 top winners, more than 500 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair participants received scholarships and prizes for their groundbreaking work. Intel awards included 19 "Best of Category" winners who each received a $5,000 Intel scholarship and a new laptop powered by the Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Intel also awarded a $1,000 grant to the winner's school and the Intel ISEF-affiliated fair they represent.

Apple launches talking ipod shuffle

Apple launches talking ipod shuffle.

The new stainless steel shuffle, which is half the size of its predecessor and smaller than an AA battery, can store up to 1,000 songs, and provides around 10 hours of music playback on a single battery charge. There are no buttons on the device itself – instead it is controlled by a button on the earphone cord, which enables users to play and pause songs, adjust the volume, flick through playlists, and hear track information.

The shuffle can ‘speak’ 14 different languages, including Czech, Dutch and Mandarin as well as English, and can automatically switch between providing battery or track information in English and pronouncing foreign song titles in the appropriate language.

“Imagine your music player talking to you, telling you your song titles, artists and playlist names,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of iPod and iPhone product marketing. “The new iPod shuffle is the world’s smallest music player and takes a revolutionary approach to how you listen to your music by talking to you, also making it the first iPod shuffle with playlists.”

The 4GB device, which will be available in black or silver, will cost £59. Apple will continue to sell the 1GB entry-level iPod shuffle, which can store around 240 songs, for £31.

Some gadget fans have expressed disappointment that the new iPod shuffle does not include a screen showing track information, and that users will have to use the Apple headphones supplied with the shuffle in order to use the device.

“We’ve rejected the idea of a screen on all our iPod shuffles, because you can only really fit a one- or two-line display and keep the size small,” said Mr Joswiak. “We don’t think that’s a very good way to navigate your music collection. With the new shuffle and VoiceOver, you get all the benefits of the display without having to have one. It’s the best of both worlds.”

Mr Joswiak also said that Apple had been working with accessory makers to ensure iPod shuffle controls are built into a wide variety of new headphones, such as sports earphones.

“They’ll be introducing headphones that have the controller integrated into their headphone design,” he said. “There will also be adapter cables available, so you can use your existing headphones with the new shuffle too.”

Mobile phone battery that can be charged in just 10 seconds

Mobile phone battery that can be charged in just 10 seconds.

A revolutionary mobile phone battery that recharges in 10 seconds instead of several hours has been created by scientists.

The new device charges 100 times as fast as a conventional battery and could also be used in phones, laptops, iPods and digital cameras within just two or three years, they say.

The same technology could even allow an electric car to be charged up in the same time that it takes to fill a conventional car with

petrol - removing one of the biggest obstacles to green, clean motoring.

The quick-charge battery is the brainchild of engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The MIT team say their invention uses materials already available to battery manufacturers and would be simple to mass produce.

The invention is based on conventional lithium ion rechargeable batteries found in most cameras, phones and portable computers.

Intel Pushes Atom Chip Beyond PCs.

Intel has introduced Atom processors that take the low-power chips into new markets, including in-car infotainment systems, Internet-based telephones, and other non-PC devices.

The Z500 series makes the Atom useful for applications other than mini-laptops, also called netbooks. The ultraportable systems with screen sizes of 10 inches or less have accounted for most Atom sales to date.

The latest models include industrial temperature options, as well as different package size choices better suited for embedded industries. In addition, the new products have integrated 2-D and 3-D graphics, video-acceleration technology, and support for multiple operating systems, including Linux and several versions of Windows.

Intel's major competitor in these new markets will be ARM, which designs power-efficient RISC processors. ARM products are often found in smartphones, such as the popular Apple iPhone.

Intel's Atom isn't yet ready to meet the low-power and design needs of smart phone makers, but the latest announcement is an indication that Intel continues to move in that direction.

Along with in-car applications, the Z500 series is aimed at what Intel calls "media phones," which provide voice communications over the Internet, as well as access to applications such as e-mail and text messaging, as well as Web content.

Along with the latest Atom chips, introduced Monday, Intel unveiled a reference design for media phones. The hardware development platform includes schematics and validated software stacks.

The Atom Z500 series is scheduled to be available in the second quarter. Intel has launched a Web site for more information on potential uses for the new products.

Intel introduced the latest series the same day the company announced collaboration with semiconductor manufacturer TSMC to develop the Atom for smartphones and mobile Internet devices. The latter are larger than a mobile phone but smaller than a netbook.

Kingston Releases 16GB microSDHC Card

Kingston Releases 16GB microSDHC Card.

Kingston Technology Company, Inc., Announced it is releasing a 16GB microSDHC Flash memory card for use in mobile phones. The larger capacity card offers greater storage options for the latest mobile phones and other digital devices and joins the microSDHC card family which includes the 4- and 8GB products.

“The increased functionality of the latest mobile phones has helped fuel and raise consumers’ appetites for more digital content,” said Nathan Su, Flash Memory Product Manager, APAC Region, and Kingston. “Today’s mobile lifestyle includes using phones as portable media players and as a camera. The Kingston 16GB microSDHC card removes the barrier of limited internal handset or device memory and allows users to store more photos, songs, games and videos.”

Kingston 16GB microSDHC cards can store more than 3,000 digital songs, over 9,000 images from a 5MP cameraphone, or up to 16 hours of video, offering the most convenient means to store, move and play digital content via a handset’s storage slot. Newer handset models from manufacturers such as LG, Motorola, Nokia, RIM and Sony Ericsson support 16GB external storage.

The Kingston 16GB microSDHC card is backed by a lifetime warranty and free technical support. Although the microSDHC card format is identical in physical size to the original microSD card, microSDHC is compatible with microSDHC host devices and not backward caompatible with standard microSD-enabled devices or readers.

Nokia look to bring social network to mobiles, Facebook.

Nokia look to bring social network to mobiles, Facebook.

Facebook is in discussions with Nokia on ways to integrate the wildly popular social network into mobile phones made by the Finnish giant, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The newspaper, citing "people familiar with the matter," said Palo Alto, California-based Facebook and Nokia were discussing a partnership that would embed parts of the social network into some Nokia phones.

The Journal said the talks have been going on for months. Financial terms of the potential deal could not be obtained, it said.

The newspaper said Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, was deciding whether it wanted to team up with an established Web player like Facebook or "build a social network from the ground up."

It said the two companies were looking at potentially integrating contact information stored in Facebook with a phone's address book.

"When users looked up a contact, they could see whether their Facebook friends were logged on, send them messages and post comments on their profile pages," the Journal said.

Facebook is also working with US handset maker Palm on integrating aspects of the social network into its new mobile operating system, the Journal said, and has also held talks with another US mobile phone maker, Motorola.

It quoted a Facebook spokeswoman as saying the company is "dedicated to working with and developing partnerships with mobile operators and device makers all over the world."

Facebook has already built software applications for Research in Motion's Blackberry and Apple's iPhone.

According to Nielsen Co. figures cited by the Journal, Facebook in December surpassed rival MySpace in terms of the number of visitors from mobile phones -- seven million US mobile users for Facebook compared with 5.7 million US mobile users for MySpace.

Ghost Caller Blockade System on the Cards: PTA Chief

Ghost Caller Blockade System on the Cards: PTA Chief

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is working on a strategy to introduce a Ghost Caller Blockade system to protect users from unwanted callers, said PTA Chairman Dr Muhammad Yaseen while talking to local news channel.

“One operator has already initiated the service, while others are being pursued to follow the suit as soon as possible aiming to ensure provision of quality services to all strata of society” added Dr. Yaseen.

He said PTA would soon establish a special Consumer Protection Cell to register and redress complaints of consumers regarding extra charges by the operators. Now-a-days negotiations are underway with the operators and consumers to formulate regulations and the Consumer Protection Cell would start operations soon after completion of the negotiations, he said.

In a bid to lure renowned vendors to initiate mobile manufacturing in Pakistan, he added that a research cell has also been established in the PTA for the purpose. Responding to a question, he assured mobile consumers would soon be provided internet services on reduced rates within a period of one month.

Pakistan would be made a hub for international mobile internet traffic. Transit services would be offered to China, central Asian States, far eastern countries and India. This will generate revenues and also provide cheap services to country’s mobile internet users, he concluded.

Intel plans 32nm Westmere chips for 2009.

Intel is to invest $7bn (£4.7bn) over the next two years to bring 32nm chips to market, the company has revealed. The first such processors are now expected to go into production later this year, with additional products following in 2010.

The first 32nm processors are codenamed Westmere and will be a die-shrink of the current Nehalem architecture, but with graphics capabilities integrated with the processor. The initial chips will target mainstream mobile and desktop systems, and were demonstrated by Intel at an event in San Francisco today.

Stephen Smith, vice president of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group, detailed the firm's roadmap to 32nm processors, saying that it will first deliver new 45nm quad-core Nehalem chips codenamed Lynnfield and Clarksfield that target mainstream desktop and thin-and-light laptops respectively.

These will be followed by 32nm processors called Clarkdale and Arrandale, similarly aimed at desktops and laptops, but these initial Westmere chips will have two cores and integrated graphics functions.

"The smaller production process will enable us to reduce the core size while still delivering two threads per core, and with graphics integrated into the processor," said Smith.

Westmere will eventually scale to a six-core/12-thread client processor called Gulftown, he added, as well as platforms for servers.

Intel also said that its 32nm process will be split into two versions, one optimised for mainstream chips and one for system-on-a-chip (SoC) processors aimed at netbooks and other mobile devices.

Mark Bohr, Intel senior fellow for logic development, explained that this is because mainstream chips call for fast-switching transistors, while SoCs require low leakage current to optimise power efficiency.

The graphics inside the Westmere processors will be based on the current graphics functions integrated into Intel's current 4-series motherboard chipsets, but provide "a significant boost in performance", according to Smith.