EV4 four-wheel-drive electric scooter leans into turns Being
able to lean into a corner has to be one of the greatest joys of riding
two wheeled transport. Adding more wheels to a bike may increase stability ШУУД ҮЗЭХand make it
easier to ride, but it also strips that sublime
pleasure away. Unless the multi-wheeler can tilt too. Poland's Jacek
Skopinski has developed an interesting four-wheeled electric scooter
called the EV4 that does just that.
"Moving within Warsaw, which from year to year is becoming more and more
jammed, I lacked alternative means of transport, which could easily get
around street jams, Skopinski told Gizmag. "I could simply not accept
the daily, pointless and costly waste of time. I began to think about
the development of an innovative vehicle that would allow for faster
urban transport."
On his checklist of must-haves, the head of light aircraft design,
construction and repair firm Aero-Service set about making a must-have
checklist, which included that the vehicle must be faster than a
bicycle, be cheap to run yet be a high quality product, be small enough
to ride on bike lanes, in parks and through forest tracks, and get from A
to B faster than a bicycle but emission free. He decided on an electric
drive four-wheeler for stability, but one that wouldn't be too large
for use in narrow cycle lanes.
"From the very beginning the EV4 was designed and constructed just like
an airplane," revealed Skopinski. "Hence, I aimed at a low weight.
Nearly all components are made of highly durable aeronautical aluminum
alloy. An interesting fact is that the main frame of the vehicle is
riveted just like in the case of airplanes. This approach makes the main
frame even more durable and lightweight."
He went on to explain that the EV4 has an adaptive suspension system
featuring two bicycle shock absorbers with adjustable damping and welded
aluminum wishbones designed to adjust to the shape of the terrain at
any given moment and keep all four wheels uniformly on the ground. Its
two 500 W electric motors, geared belt drives and 36 V Li-ion battery
pack in either 20 Ah or 40 Ah configurations offer a top speed of 40
km/h (25 mph) and a range of between 30 and 50 km (18.6 - 31 miles) with
the 20 Ah battery installed and up to double that with the larger pack
on board.
The four-wheeler sports hydraulic disc brakes on each of the four wheels
ensure short stopping distances. It's 150 cm long and 60 cm wide (59 x
24 in) and benefits from a height-adjustable seat. Sans battery pack,
the EV4 tips the scales at 41 kg (90 lb), which increases to 47 kg with
the 20 Ah battery installed and 53 kg with the 40 Ah pack. There's a
twist-grip throttle and ride information, such as speed and remaining
charge, is displayed on a handlebar-mounted LCD display.
Google set to rival Sonos with Cast for audio wireless streaming Google has announced that the Cast technology on which its Chromecast is
based will soon be used in speakers. Google
Cast for
ШУУД ҮЗЭХ audio will
allow
users to stream audio services wirelessly to compatible speakers. Users
will also be able to control the speakers via a computer or mobile
device.
Google Cast for audio will provide users with similar functionality
to Sonos. Cast-enabled speakers will connect directly to the internet
via a home network and the user will be able to control what services
they stream from and play via a computer or mobile device. The recently
released Gramafonaims to bring the same functionality to non-Wi-Fi-capable stereo system setups.
What Google Cast for audio offers that Sonos and Gamafon do not is a
connected platform used by a variety of different speaker manufacturers.
As such, there should be more choice among the speakers available and a
potentially greater incentive for audio services to make themselves
compatible with the platform.
Google says that Cast-compatible speakers will initially work with
Deezer, Google Play Music, iHeartRadio, NPR One, Pandora, Rdio and
TuneIn radio, to name a few, with more services being added going
forward. Users will be able to control the service via an Android phone
or tablet, iOS devices and from the Chrome browser on a Windows, Mac or
Chrome OS computer.
The first Google Cast Ready speakers are expected to be available in the
US in the first half of this year. Manufacturers will include Sony, LG
and HEOS by Denon.
A pioneer of modern dentistry mixed showmanship with medical knowledge. Writer James Bartlett remembers the legacy
of
ШУУД ҮЗЭХ Painless Parker.
You might not look twice at the name on the gravestone in Saratoga, California - Edgar Randolph Parker. His daughter made sure it offered no clues to his alter-ego, "Painless" Parker, the most famous dentist in America.
I came across Parker while researching a book about how the idea of "bad teeth" and dentistry came to the masses. Parker's insistence on high-quality dental care and his relentless showmanship played a big part of this shift - but he's almost forgotten now. Only one obscure book by two dentists has been written about his life - The Early Adventures of Painless Parker, by Peter M Pronych and Arden G Christen.
It wasn't just a nickname. In 1915 he legally changed his name to Painless Parker, just so he could continue to practice after California insisted dentists work under their legal title. Parker felt it was deliberately aimed at him and opposed it vociferously.
Over his career, Parker had dozens of offices spread between Utah, California, Oregon, New York, Idaho, Colorado and Washington state, but he began his career in New Brunswick, his hometown province.
At the time he favoured what was known as the "ethical" route - he didn't solicit for customers. But check-ups weren't a regular occurrence for most people at the time. With other dentists already in town - and the ever-present fear-of-pain factor - he soon faced an empty chair.
Desperate, he rented a room in a nearby town and took to the street corner. He talked about dental health and then, armed with a syringe of watered cocaine he christened "hydrocaine", said he'd extract anyone's tooth for 50 cents.
He promised extraction would be completely painless, and offered $5 if the patient wasn't satisfied.
Unsurprisingly,
the narcotic did its job, and soon he was making money as a travelling
dentist, borrowing a rocking chair for his patients wherever he went.
Some
years later he and his family moved to New York, where he struggled
again, until he met William Beebe, a former employee of PT Barnum.
Together they planned to do the unthinkable - brazenly advertise Parker
and his skills, and take the act on the road.
Out on the bustling
streets, a musician or brass band would play to draw attention - it
also provided great cover for patient screams. Parker would give his
well-practiced speech and offer to treat anyone.
Customers soon
filled his expanding offices, so he commissioned a "Paris Trap" , a
horse-drawn flatbed with a dentist's chair, for his shows, and kept his
ever-filling bucket of teeth close at hand for people to see.
Despite
his undoubted dental proficiency, his maverick showmanship saw him
endlessly dismissed as a quack and a charlatan. He regularly fought in
the courts against limits on advertising, his legitimacy and "ethics",
but also against overcharging and monopolies - Parker always kept his
prices affordable for poor clients.
After
Beebe's sudden death Parker moved to California, briefly considering an
early retirement. But he bought up a shabby dentist's office in Los
Angeles and was soon building more.
The West Coast establishment
didn't welcome his ways either. He eventually set up the Institute of
Dental Economics to train dentists and fight his many legal battles with
the California State Dental Association.
He also eschewed an
office full "costly rugs and pictures" in favour of new technology, and
offered mouthwashes, toothpastes and powders for brushing at home.
In
1913 Parker bought a travelling circus and became ringmaster. On one
notable day he claimed to have extracted over 350 teeth, while
non-patients could see the elephants, watch the performers, or ogle the
tattooed lady.
As Parker expanded in California and across the
western US, he gave up smoking and drinking - but the showman remained.
He treated a hippo called Lucas, performed at a theme park in Long
Beach, and was snapped with celebrities - and all the while still
advertising relentlessly.
Eventually, concerns about bacteria and
sterilisation led Parker to give up his sidewalk demonstrations - which
he switched out for screening educational films about oral care in his
office. Interested crowds were then invited to come next door for a free
check-up, of course.
In 1948, a few years before Parker died, Bob Hope played hapless
dentist Peter "Painless" Potter alongside Jane Russell in Paleface, a
Western comedy that was loosely based on some incidents in Parker's
early life. Parker of course loved the movie - and the publicity.
Today
Parker's still a star at the small Historical Dental Museum at his alma
mater, Temple University, but he's largely forgotten outside
California.
But his biggest office, on the corner of 7th and Main
in Los Angeles, still operates as a dental practice. Naturally, there's
a large billboard of a smiling face on the roof.
With two
entrances, nine treatment rooms, a lab full of teeth moulds, x-ray and
dark rooms, reception, offices, staff rooms, waiting rooms and endless
half-empty storage spaces, it has changed little since it opened in
1906.
Though he had other offices across town, this one was
purpose-built by Parker as a "one stop shop", says Dr Jong M Lee, the
current owner.
Lee took over the office from another dentist, but
he says many of his patients are relatives of those who were treated by
Parker. It's meant he's never had to advertise. In fact, Lee only put
up the large billboard in 2007 in advance of some building upgrades.
Lee apologises, insisting that I look around the building as he gets
back to his patients. Walking down the long corridors, I make a closer
inspection of some unusual skylights and several gorgeous amber-coloured
windows that look like stained glass, tucked away between two rooms.
Then
I see a wall clock that's so ancient Parker may have tallied his pocket
watch to it, and it's out through the double doors into the main
waiting area, past the obligatory aquarium with tropical fish, and out
onto the bustling streets.
High above, the billboard's shiny white teeth and ruby red lips suggest I call or "Just Come In".
Painless Parker would approve.
Most UK insurance companies will now
accept dashboard camera footage in disputed claims - but few will offer
a discount on premiums for using one.
These "dashcams" are small, forward-facing cameras that film a driver's
view of
ШУУД ҮЗЭХ the road.
When asked by provider Nextbase, 29 insurers said they would consider using dashcam evidence in the claims process.
This would be put alongside any accounts from independent witnesses if the parties involved disagreed.
Experts
also stress that drivers with dashcams should still collect as much
evidence as possible in a claim when there is disagreement between the
parties involved, such as the details of other motorists who may have
seen the collision.
Discounts
Insurance premiums have been falling in recent months, according to various measures.
The
AA said that the cheapest annual comprehensive car insurance on the
market was £200 lower in the early months of 2015 than at its peak in
2011.
But the motoring group said it expected this average of the cheapest deals - £540 a year - to increase in the coming months.
Some drivers are able to secure a discount on their premium by installing a "black box" in their vehicle.
This
records evidence, such as whether a driver is travelling within speed
limits, and is aimed at encouraging safer use of the roads.
Malcolm
Tarling, of the Association of British Insurers (ABI), said that it was
far more likely for motorists to get a discount from their insurer when
using a black box than when using a dashcam.
He added that
insurers would generally have to write a clause into the terms and
conditions of any discount to be able to demand dashcam footage be
released by the owner, even if this implicated the driver as the cause
of a collision.
Meanwhile, a price comparison website is warning drivers to ensure that any pets travelling in vehicles are secure.
"The law is clear - you must secure your animal while in a car," said Matt Oliver, car insurance spokesman at Gocompare.com.
"Therefore
if you don't do this and an animal roaming freely around the vehicle is
said to have contributed to causing an accident, then an insurance
company could be well within their rights not to pay out on a claim."
There are moments that live on in business history.
One
of them is the cry: "Mr Watson come here, I want to see you," spoken by
Alexander Graham Bell back in 1876, in the world's first
telephone
ШУУД ҮЗЭХ conversation.
Another significant moment was the day in 1997 when
the IBM computer called Deep Blue beat the then world champion Gary
Kasparov at chess.
And then another IBM moment in 2011 when an
even more intelligent computer called Watson -after the IBM founder
Thomas Watson and his IBM chief executive son Thomas - won the TV game
Jeopardy against human competition.
These last two IBM contests demonstrate - we're told - big advances in machine intelligence.
Foreigners
have to take the most recent one on trust - Jeopardy is not a familiar
game outside the USA, and how clever you have to be to win it is not
understood globally.
Anyway, the Jeopardy win got the technology
community excited that a threshold moment had been passed on the
computing roadmap set out by the late British genius, Alan Turing.
His so-called Turing Test
predicted that one day machines would be able to interact with human
beings in a way that it would not be possible to tell whether the other
party to the interaction was man or machine. At least on the screen.
In one way there is nothing difficult to understand about this
progress in computing. It was implicit in Moore's Law, laid down 40
years ago by Gordon Moore, co-founder of silicon chip giant Intel.
Moore's
Law points out that computer power on a chip doubles roughly every two
years. It's not so much a law as a roadmap for the whole computer
industry. This machine progress - still continuing - naturally means
that the rate at which computers can crunch data is expanding at a
similar speed.
When an IBM computer played a human at draughts,
or checkers, in 1959 under the supervision of Arthur Samuels, it did not
need - and did not have - as much computing power as the chess-playing
Deep Blue.
Draughts is a simpler game. Its whole repertory of
potential moves and counter moves is far smaller than chess. But
computer power was very limited then.
Jeopardy, I'm told, is a different matter, rather more than just one step up in complexity.
The
questions are allusive and unstructured, they come from all over. Big
Blue's Jeopardy victory was therefore a breakthrough moment for members
of what is now known as the artificial intelligence community.
But
is the superior number crunching that computers can now routinely carry
out real intelligence or simulated artificial intelligence (AI)?
Computers taking over?
Many
companies big and small are now pursuing the holy grail of artificial
intelligence - at its starkest, thinking machines. Most are shrouding
their efforts in secrecy, IBM isn't.
Watson is now being marketed
as a tool for people to explore and use. In New York, there's an
impressive building near the city's so-called Silicon Alley devoted to
demonstrating Watson, and finding uses for its apparent intelligence.
A new cluster of AI specialists is emerging in New York. Some of them
are financial market algorithmic whizz kids redeployed after the
crisis.
Some are refugees from AT&T's famous Bell Labs over
the river in New Jersey. It was there that the transistor was developed
in 1947.
Bell Labs also did a lot of work on speech recognition
for telephone networks... something that is obviously allied to machine
intelligence.
At Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York, I
went to hear from a famous cancer specialist who is using Watson's
data-gathering skills to expand hugely his own knowledge base, and bring
him instant news of developments in his field that may be relevant to
the symptoms he feeds in to it.
Some people I've heard from
recently think that we will soon enter an era when computer diagnosis
using machines will so improve on human diagnosis that medicine will
move swiftly into machine intelligence world. That's what the
Indian-born venture capitalist Vinod Khosla told me in Silicon Valley,
California, last year.
But the New York specialist I met was
convinced that a human doctor would remain at the centre of things. He
would use Watson greatly to expand his understanding, but not to do its
own independent diagnosis.
When machines might outstrip humans as
thinkers - is making a lot of headlines. But the people closest to it
are wary of the claims made by experts such as Ray Kurzweil, chief
engineer at Google, that the human race will sometime soon be eclipsed
by intelligent machines.
Mr Kurzweil has long been convinced that
one year (maybe 2050) computers will have evolved to be as clever as we
are. Two years later - following the drum beaten by Moore's Law - they
will be twice as clever.
At which stage it would be logical to hand over to them, since they know more than we do, and will continue to improve.
In
spite of Mr Kurzweil's concept of this takeover point, which he calls
the singularity, most of the other people I've been listening to think
that AI is not a fixed threshold point in the evolution of computer
power.
It is a reflection of the ever-increasing ability of
computers to search and do pattern recognition in an ever-increasing
store of data. The concept of AI reflects this burgeoning power of the
computer to cope with stuff.
Each step on the way, each
computerised victory over humans in checkers, or chess, or Jeopardy,
looks like a material step towards the ultimate - machines that are as
intelligent in every way as are we mortals.
But crunching data, and learning from that, is only one of the things that human beings have mastered - to a certain extent.
And for many of us, we see that the mastery of big data by computers is clever, but not as clever as human intelligence.
It
may be that this process goes on for a long time; ever more impressive
thresholds will be crossed by computers such as Watson. Progress towards
AI, but never the achievement of real artificial intelligence itself.
My tablet computer's spelling corrector is demonstrating that, every sentence I write.
The
accompanying radio documentary to this feature will be broadcast on
Radio Four's In Business programme on Thursday, 7 May at 20:30 BST, and
again at 21:30 BST on Sunday 10 May. It will able be available via the In Business podcast page.
BMW 3 Series gets refreshed with hybrid power For
a very long time, the BMW 3 Series was the car to beat in the market
for premium compact sedans. Recently the ШУУД ҮЗЭХcompetition
has caught up, with
the likes of the Mercedes C-Class and the sharply styled Lexus IS
encroaching on BMW's turf. To try and elevate the 3 Series above its
rivals, BMW has given the car a styling refresh and introduced a
three-cylinder motor and plug-in hybrid option.
All of the engines in the refreshed 3 Series lineup have been reworked
to combine better fuel economy with more power. On the diesel front, the
316d, 318d and 320d have all been fitted with revised turbochargers to
offer better throttle response. The 316d's motor produces 85 kW (116
hp), with the engine's peak 270 Nm (199 lb.ft) of torque available
between 1,250 and 2,750 rpm. This is 25 kW (34 hp) and 50 Nm (37 lb.ft)
less than the more expensive 318d's engine makes, and well down on the
140 kW (190 hp) and 400 Nm (295 lb.ft) of torque produced by the 320d.
In spite of the increase in power, CO2 emissions and fuel consumption
figures are both down across the range, with the EfficientDynamics tuned
320d burning a miserly 3.8 l/100km (74.3 mpg) on the combined cycle.
The bottom end of the petrol line-up is where BMW has made the biggest
changes to the 3 Series range. The updated 318i is fitted with a
1.5-liter three-cylinder motor producing 101 kW (136 hp) and 220 Nm of
torque – the first time that BMW has slipped a three-cylinder engine
under the bonnet of a mid-size car. Bavaria's engineers are keen to
point out the three-cylinder engine's light weight and compact nature,
although it remains to be seen whether BMW buyers will be comfortable
buying a sedan with the engine from a Mini under the hood. Premium or
not, the 1.5-liter engine is economical, with fuel economy of just 5.5
l/100km (51.4 mpg) and CO2 emissions of only 137 g/km. Performance is
also impressive for such a small engine: 0-100km/h (62mph) in a
reasonably sprightly 8.9 seconds.
At the other end of the range, BMW has replaced the top-end 335i with
the 340i. Power comes from a new turbocharged inline six, which produces
240 kW (326 hp) and 450 Nm, enough to shoot it from 0-100km/h (62 mph)
in 5.1 seconds – similar to the 4.9-seconds it takes its Mercedes C450
AMG rival to hit the same mark. As with the rest of the range, the 340i
emits less CO2 than the model it replaces too, with its 152 g/km figure
representing an improvement of over 10 percent.
As of 2016, the 3 Series range will also include the 330e plug-in
hybrid, designed to rival the hybrid options Mercedes offers on its
C-Class range. According to BMW, the maximum output of the 330e's hybrid
drivetrain is pegged at 185 kW (252 hp). Both Mercedes and BMW claim
fuel economy of 2.1 l/100km (112 mpg) for their hybrids, while the BMW
will travel 35 km (22 miles) on battery power alone – 4 km (2.5 miles)
more than the C350 plug-in hybrid can manage.
As well as updating the 3 Series' engine lineup, BMW's has focused on
lifting cabin quality with extra chrome highlights, a redesigned center
console and improved materials on touchpoints around the cabin. There's
also an upgrade to the navigation system, which boots up and finds
routes faster, as well as offering improved 3D graphics.
Externally, the updates are fairly subtle. Full LED headlamps are now an
option, and the graphics of the taillights have been revised to make
the car seem wider on the road. The front apron has also received a
rework to include the sensor for BMW's active cruise control system.
The update also extends the the 3 Series' suspension and damping, with stiffer suspension and a revised damping system.
The updated 3 Series range will be available with a six-speed manual or
an eight-speed automatic gearbox, while BMW's xDrive all-wheel drive
system is optional on the 320i,
330i, 340i, 318d, 320d and 330d.
FAA's new drone program goes above and beyond the line of sight
Amazon's ambitious plans to deliver small parcels by drones just took another little jump towards reality, with the ШУУД ҮЗЭХ 1 Federal ШУУД ҮЗЭХ 2
Administration (FAA) launching a new program to study the use of drones beyond the operator's line of sight. The initiative sees the agency team up with three companies to take drone technology forward, with the ultimate goal of hastening the safe integration of the vehicles into US airspace.
FAA administrator Michael Huerta made the announcement today at the International Unmanned Systems 2015 conference in Atlanta. For the new venture, dubbed the Pathfinder Program, the FAA will collaborate with cable news network CNN, drone manufacturer PrecisionHawk and freight railroad operator BNSF Railway.
PrecisionHawk
will investigate how drones could be flown outside the pilot's direct
vision for use in agriculture, while BNSF Railroad will explore the
potential of using unsighted drones to inspect railway infrastructure.
In February, the FAA revealed a set of proposed guidelines for
commercial drone flight. Among other things, these dictated that the
aircraft only be flown within the line of sight, though at the same time
it invited public comment on how drones flying beyond the line of sight
could be safely used. That it is now turning to the industry to help
usher in these measures must be a promising sign for businesses such as
Amazon and Google with drone delivery services in the pipeline.
"Government has some of the best and brightest minds in aviation, but we
can’t operate in a vacuum," says US Transportation Secretary Anthony
Foxx. "This is a big job, and we’ll get to our goal of safe, widespread
UAS integration more quickly by leveraging the resources and expertise
of the industry."
On the same day, the FAA announced a new smartphone app aimed at
informing drone users when and where it is safe to fly their vehicles.
Called B4UFLY, the app tells users whether then are any legal
restrictions or requirements in the area they wish to fly. The agency
intends to release the app to around 1,000 beta testers in the coming
months.
Benelli BN302 delivers the Italian experience at a budget price Benelli's
new Chinese ownership group QianJiang knows a thing or two about
manufacturing. It makes more than 1.5 million bikes a year and this ШУУД ҮЗЭХproduction
muscle has enabled Benelli to put together an entry-level
machine that delivers impressive specs and great looks at a price that
undercuts even the Japanese competition. A 300cc parallel twin with twin
disc brakes and adjustable suspension, the Benelli BN302should make a nice "exotic" alternative for new riders.
The BN302 represents new territory for Benelli. It's the company's first
"learner" class bike – at least, the first under its new Chinese
ownership. Built in China under an Italian quality assurance team, the
BN302 is designed to bring new riders into the Benelli fold early, with
an impressively low price, exotic good looks and a spec sheet that even
its higher-priced competition can't match.
At AU$6,290 (US$5,015), it's considerably less expensive than the wildly
popular Kawasaki Ninja EX300 and KTM's Duke 390, but it certainly
doesn't come across as cheap. Fit and finish is beautiful, with the bike
boasting a lovely feel to it and quite a few details that make it seem a
lot more expensive and European than it is. One of the first you'll
notice is the seat detail, which is a very classy touch, but you'll have
to look a little closer to find the real surprises.
The BN302 has twin disc brakes and preload/rebound adjustable suspension
at both ends. None of the more expensive bikes in the 300cc class offer
either of those touches. The Pirelli Angel tires are another surprise.
Tires, brakes and suspension are generally the first places money is
saved on a cheaper bike, but here the Benelli outdoes the competition.
It's a fairly physically large bike for a small capacity learner
machine. At 185 kg (408 lb) wet, it's got some bulk to it, which will
discourage some smaller riders. Others will appreciate the extra size,
although at 5 ft 11 in (180 cm), I found my legs getting a bit cramped
due to the high footpegs.
The engine is a nice compromise. At lower revs it's calm and accessible
and torquey enough to deliver confidence to new riders. Rev it higher
and you'll get yourself access to the full 37 hp (27.5 kW) and 27 Nm (20
ft lb) of torque, which is enough to deliver some decent laughs on a
twisty road. Power and torque are both up on the Ninja 300's numbers,
but any performance gains will likely be swallowed up by the Benelli's
extra 10 kg (22 lb) of weight.
The brakes and suspension show their pedigree when you get out and start
riding hard. Power and feel on the brakes is impressive and the
suspension responds well to adjustments in rebound damping. Most small
bikes come underdamped for larger riders out of the box, and the BN302
is no exception. But a few turns of rebound on the fork, a couple of
clicks on the hand-adjustable shock, and it immediately felt much more
under control for me.
As a more experienced rider, I appreciated the braking power on tap.
It's not overpowering or touchy, but with a bit of pressure you can stop
very hard. For that reason I think Benelli ought to think about adding
an ABS option as panic braking can easily catch learners out.
At the end of the day, the BN302 will probably take its place in the
market as an attractive option for new riders that want something
different to the crowd. It'll set itself apart with its smooth, European
looks (even if it's clearly reminiscent of Kawasaki's ER-6N) and its
impressive specifications. The price tag will come as a nice surprise.
And if this bike is an indication of the quality we can expect from
QianJiang's Chinese manufacturing plant, things are looking bright for
Benelli.
Asus G501 gaming laptop offers a thin build, 4K display and 960M graphics
The new ROG G501 from Asus pairs a thin build and high-end internals
with ШУУД ҮЗЭХ Nvidia's latest
GeForce GTX960M GPU. The graphics card is designed
specifically for gaming notebooks that put an emphasis on portability,
and offers compatibility with a range of Nvidia features and
technologies.
The company's newest gaming laptop weighs in at 4.54 lb (2.05 kg) with a
thickness of 0.81 inches (20.6 mm), making it a hair thicker than
the GX500 model we saw last year. The new laptop is equipped with
Nvidia's newly-announced GeForce GTX 960M graphics card, offering 4 GB
of GDDR5 VRAM. The GPU features DirectX 12 support and is compatible
with the company's recording and streaming ShadowPlay service, as well
as its power saving BatteryBoost feature.
Besides the brand new GPU and thin build, the gaming machine offers an
Intel i7-4720HQ processor, 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of PCIeSSD storage.
Things are looking healthy when it comes to connectivity, with the
system offering three USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI-out, an SD card reader and
even a Thunderbolt port. The G501's 15.6-inch non-touch matt panel
features a full 4K 3,840 x 2,160 resolution.
As you'd expect from a thin and light system with high-end internals,
the G501 doesn't come cheap. The new gaming laptop will be available in
April for US$1,999.
If you're interested in picking up a GTX 900M series-packing machine
right now, then you might like to note that the company has updated its
ROG G751 and ROG GL551 systems, which are now available with 965M and
960M GPUs respectively. Various other manufacturers have also updated
their lineups to reflect the new GPU release, with systems such as
the HP Omenand Alienware 13 now available with 900M-series cards.
Peugeot reveals its "vision" of a sharp, ultra-quick track car Zero
to 62 mph (100 km/h) in less than two seconds? It can't be done. Well,
not in a standard production car, but when you're designing a car
destined only for the virtual ШУУД ҮЗЭХfor the virtual
pavement of a video game, you can go a
little wild with your performance estimates. The latest in a seemingly
endless stream of Vision Gran Turismo concepts, the Peugeot Vision GT
flashes radical styling and even more radical in-game performance.
A collaboration between Peugeot's design team and Peugeot Sport, the new
Vision Gran Turismo is clearly inspired by the Onyx,, a fetching 2012
concept car that the French automaker still brings to auto shows
regularly. The video game car is 3.5 in (9 cm) lower, standing at 41 in
(104 cm), and includes more fully shaped fender muscles, among other
design variations.
The most interesting aspect of Peugeot's Vision GT styling is the
replacement of side windows with extended body work, creating a unique
cabin shell with floating glass roof. The smooth form helps the low,
powerful supercar sweep air aside on its way to the finish line. The
Vision GT wears contrast red grill slats and lower body work, a more
subtle interpretation of the two-tone body work that Peugeot has used on
recent show cars, including the Onyx, and Exalt.
Below its smooth, aggressive body, the Vision GT features an 875-bhp
turbocharged 3.2-liter V6 mounted just behind the driver. Output works
its way to all four wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox and AWD
system. The powertrain's effectiveness is furthered by the car's 1:1
power to weight ratio (it weighs 875 kg/1,929 lb), meaning that the
needle will hit 62 mph in a mere 1.73 seconds. Clearly Peugeot has to
keep up with the virtual competition, including the Chevy Chaparral
2X and its laser-fired 1.5-second 0-60 mph time. No word on what the
car's virtual top speed is, but Peugeot promises quick, sure stopping
with the Brembo carbon disc brake package.
Those may sound like fantasy video game numbers, but they're much the
same as the Pikes Peak record-setting 208 T16. That car also has a
(twin) turbocharged 875-bhp 3.2-liter V6 and 875-kg weight and is just a
few tenths slower, firing to 62 mph in 1.8 seconds.
The Airbus H160 Helicopter Is a Technological Tour de Force Airbus unveiled the all-new Airbus H160 medium-sized
helicopter—previously known as the X4—at a recent industry event in
Orlando, Fla., proudly claiming
that it
ШУУД ҮЗЭХ represents a new
generation in
cutting-edge design and operating efficiency. The aircraft’s fully
composite airframe reduces weight without compromising strength,
requires less maintenance, and resists corrosion and wear. The
distinctive double-canted tail incorporates the biggest Fenestron
shrouded tail rotor ever made, which reduces noise and vibration while
enhancing stability and aerodynamic efficiency. Airbus says the H160
will use up to 20 percent less fuel than the current generation of
similar-sized helicopters.
Powered by two new fuel-efficient Turbomeca Arrano turboshaft engines,
the H160 can carry up to 12 passengers at a cruising speed of about 185
mph for distances beyond 500 miles. Other features include an all-new
biplane stabilizer that makes it easier for the pilot to maneuver during
low-speed flight and while hovering, and Blue Edge main rotor blades
that reduce exterior noise by 50 percent. The H160 is the first aircraft
to be branded as an Airbus Helicopter, as the company leaves behind the
Eurocopter brand to better reflect its global scope. First flight is
expected later this year, with deliveries to start in 2018; the company
has not yet announced a price.
Improved GPS could untether VR and revolutionize geolocation A team from the University of Texas wants to create virtual reality and
augmented reality systems that can better integrate with the real world.
Along the
way,
ШУУД ҮЗЭХ they just might
revolutionize the geolocation systems we
all use on our mobile devices.
We first met Todd Humphreys and his students in the Cockrell School of
Engineering a few years ago at South by Southwest in Austin. At the time
they were working with a goofy, bulky proof-of-concept augmented
reality system that was about the size of a desktop computer with a
dish-sized GPS antenna sticking out of it. It seemed like the team was
making interesting advances, but was still way behind an augmented
reality trend that was dominated by buzz around Google Glass at the
time.
Two years later, Glass is on hiatus, and Humphreys' group has a new
software-based system that could improve the accuracy of the GPS enough
to open up a wide array of new uses for mobile devices, virtual reality
headsets, automotive navigation and perhaps even the next generation of
Google Glass.
For years now, the team members have been working on harnessing what's
called carrier-phase differential GPS (CDGPS), which can be accurate
down to a centimeter. Previous prototypes like the one we saw in person
required a big, clunky, expensive antenna to achieve this, but now they
claim to have a breakthrough software-defined GPS receiver that can
attain the same level of accuracy using the cheaper antennas currently
found in mobile devices.
Humphreys
envisions using this technology to enable drones to deliver packages to
a hyper-specific spot and to improve automotive collision systems, but
his team is especially interested in merging real-time geolocation data
with virtual reality headsets like the Oculus Rift, which
currently does not use GPS (and is tethered to a PC), limiting it to
indoor use and accuracy within only about two-to-three feet (roughly .75
meters).
"Imagine games where, rather than sit in front of a monitor and play,
you are in your backyard actually running around with other players," he
says.
Humphreys and his team are now working on a specialized receiver called
GRID, that extracts centimeter-level accuracy from mobile device
antennas. The receiver currently operates outside the phone, but is
expected to eventually run on a smartphone's internal processor. The
team has recently spun off a startup called Radiosense that is working
with Samsung to develop a snap-on accessory that will provide more
accurate location information for devices, including VR headsets.
Improved GPS could untether VR and revolutionize geolocation A team from the University of Texas wants to create virtual reality and
augmented reality systems that can better integrate with the real world.
Along
the way,
ШУУД ҮЗЭХ they just might
revolutionize the geolocation systems we
all use on our mobile devices.
We first met Todd Humphreys and his students in the Cockrell School of
Engineering a few years ago at South by Southwest in Austin. At the time
they were working with a goofy, bulky proof-of-concept augmented
reality system that was about the size of a desktop computer with a
dish-sized GPS antenna sticking out of it. It seemed like the team was
making interesting advances, but was still way behind an augmented
reality trend that was dominated by buzz around Google Glass at the
time.
Two years later, Glass is on hiatus, and Humphreys' group has a new
software-based system that could improve the accuracy of the GPS enough
to open up a wide array of new uses for mobile devices, virtual reality
headsets, automotive navigation and perhaps even the next generation of
Google Glass.
For years now, the team members have been working on harnessing what's
called carrier-phase differential GPS (CDGPS), which can be accurate
down to a centimeter. Previous prototypes like the one we saw in person
required a big, clunky, expensive antenna to achieve this, but now they
claim to have a breakthrough software-defined GPS receiver that can
attain the same level of accuracy using the cheaper antennas currently
found in mobile devices.
Humphreys
envisions using this technology to enable drones to deliver packages to
a hyper-specific spot and to improve automotive collision systems, but
his team is especially interested in merging real-time geolocation data
with virtual reality headsets like the Oculus Rift,
which currently does not use GPS (and is tethered to a PC), limiting it
to indoor use and accuracy within only about two-to-three feet (roughly
.75 meters).
"Imagine games where, rather than sit in front of a monitor and play,
you are in your backyard actually running around with other players," he
says.
Humphreys and his team are now working on a specialized receiver called
GRID, that extracts centimeter-level accuracy from mobile device
antennas. The receiver currently operates outside the phone, but is
expected to eventually run on a smartphone's internal processor. The
team has recently spun off a startup called Radiosense that is working
with Samsung to develop a snap-on accessory that will provide more
accurate location information for devices, including VR headsets.
Autonomous Freightliner Inspiration truck makes a splash at the Hoover Dam Self-driving
cars might be grabbing all the headlines, but it seems like
self-driving trucks might hit the road first. At the Hoover Dam outside
of Las Vegas,ШУУД ҮЗЭХDaimler Trucks
North America (DTNA) showed off its Freightliner Inspiration
Truck, which has been officially licensed to operate on public highways
in the state of Nevada. The autonomous hauler allows the driver to hand
over full control to the onboard computer under proper traffic and
environmental conditions.
Self-driving passenger cars have been long in coming. Part of the reason
is that cars are designed to go almost anywhere, from freeways to
crowded city streets. Even human drivers have difficulty dealing with
everything that a normal trip can throw at them and expecting a computer
to do it is about as ambitious as you can get. On the other hand,
specialized freight haulers spend most of their time on highways and
freeways, so building one that can take over most of the tedious
long-haul driving and letting the human do the side streets and backing
up to the loading bay seems like a logical trade off.
That seems to be the thinking behind DTNA's design philosophy at the
Tuesday evening unveiling ceremony. This was the culmination of a series
of events during the day when Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval put a
license plate on the Frieghtliner Inspiration, granting it legal status
to operate in the state, then climbing aboard for the first drive.
Though the Inspiration is billed as self-driving, a human was at the
wheel at all times.
The
Freightliner Inspiration is still only a concept vehicle, and only two
have been built so far, but it does give an idea of what the
self-driving truck of the future is likely to look like. On the outside,
the Inspiration looks like any other tricked-out American semi, right
down to the LED ambient lighting in the grille. But the truck boasts a
complex suite of sensors and computer hardware that make it a certified
Level 3 autonomous vehicle that can operate on public roads in a variety
of conditions.
The basic idea behind the Inspiration is for the autonomous system to
control the truck when on highways, while the driver deals with exits,
local roads, and freight yards. According to DTNA, the Inspiration can
take over many of the driving functions, such as staying in a designated
lane, keeping station at a safe distance from another vehicle,
maintaining a legal speed, braking safely to a halt when needed, and
being able to judge when to hand back control to the driver.
This may make the Inspiration sound like a rolling lab, but DTNA says
that its systems are based on some of the core autonomous vehicle
systems already installed in the series production Freightliner Cascadia
Evolution. Its Highway Pilot uses a combination of cameras and radar
for lane stability, collision avoidance, speed control, braking,
steering, and general road keeping.
Behind
the grille is a short-range radar scanning out to 230 ft (70 m) in a
130-degree arc, while a long-range unit scans out to 820 ft (250 m) in
an 18-degree arc. These hook into the Active Cruise Control and Active
Brake Assist. Behind the front windscreen is a stereo camera that can
recognize road markings and operate the steering mechanism.
One advantage of big rigs is that the tractor cabins usually have plenty
of room. Many long-haul versions even have sleeping quarters. This gave
the designers plenty of scope for fitting in controls and video
displays that replace the exterior mirrors. According to DTNA, this
reduces blind spots and cuts down wind drag for a 1.5 percent increase
in fuel efficiency. In addition, the interface can help drivers with
logistics and route planning.
"Freightliner Trucks does more than any other commercial truck
manufacturer to integrate the truck, the driver and the business," says
Richard Howard, Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing, DTNA. "The
Freightliner Inspiration Truck is a case in point because it is not a
driverless truck — the driver is a key part of a collaborative vehicle
system. With the Freightliner Inspiration Truck, drivers can optimize
their time on the road while also handling other important logistical
tasks, from scheduling to routing. The autonomous vehicle technology not
only contributes to improved safety and efficiency, but allows for
improved communication through connectivity and integration."
