Sony Brings the Bling with Swarovski Photoframe

Tag Archive: Cambridge

PVI Buys Display Maker E Ink for $215 Million

PVI Buys Display Maker E Ink for $215 Million

Taiwanese display maker Prime View International (PVI) has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Kindle and Sony Reader display maker E Ink for about $215 million. E Ink makes displays that have a look similar to printed paper and, while slow, they are readable in direct sunlight, and thus ideal for devices like the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader. Once the acquisition is complete, PVI plans to continue developing E Ink’s display technology, including the development of color and flexible displays based on E Ink’s technology.

 Read more...

Keyboard Sniffers Can Steal Data

Just when you think things are getting a little safer, more depressing news appears. This time it’s thanks to a pair of doctoral students, who have used a simple radio antenna to eavesdrop on the electromagnetic signals raised each time a key on the computer keyboard is depressed, according to the BBC.

The students, Martin Vuagnoux and Sylvain Pasini from the Security and Cryptography Laboratory at the Swiss Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), have developed four separate attacks that work on 11 keyboards connected either by USB or PS2 socket, as well as on laptop keyboards. In one case the attack worked at a distance of 20 meters.  Read more...

Oxford V. Cambridge – On iTunes

Oxford V. Cambridge - On iTunes

25 British Prime Ministers have gone to Oxford. But when it comes to Nobel laureates, Cambridge has the edge on its rival. Yes, the competition between the two venerable British universities is strong. But this is the 21st century, so the Guardian reports that the pair are competing on a new battlefield – iTunes.

Between them, Oxford and Cambridge are putting around 450 hours of free podcasts, lectures, films and admissions guides up on the iTunesu academic portal, available to anyone who wants to download them. So you can get lectures from people like former chief economist of the World Bank, Joseph Stiglitz, or climate change expert Sir Nicholas Stern. Or possibly Monty Python’s Michael Palin reporting on Oxford’s fundraising drive and historian David Starkey offering a history of Cambridge.

 Read more...

MI6 Advertises On Facebook

If you’ve ever had fantasies of being a real James Bond, Facebook might be the best place to start that new career. Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service – better known as MI6, the organization that runs agents abroad – has begun advertising for recruits on the social networking site, a big turnaround from the times (quite recent times, in fact) when it would quietly look for the qualified among Oxford and Cambridge graduates, and following up on radio and TV ads, according to the Guardian.

MI6 is using three ads that appear when Facebook users contact each other. One reads:  Read more...

Microsoft AutoCollage 2008 Slices Photos

Microsoft AutoCollage 2008 Slices Photos

You wouldn’t expect much engineering effort to be poured into software for a task as simple as arranging photos into a collage, but Microsoft has taken the concept to its logical extreme with AutoCollage 2008, released Thursday. The advanced program from Microsoft Research Cambridge takes combining images to a new level of automation with object recognition, face detection, image blending, and other computer graphics wizardry.

While the products of AutoCollage look like something a Photoshop pro could cook up fairly easily, the real innovation lies in the lack of skill needed to create them. After importing seven or more photos, AutoCollage detects faces and other focal points in the pictures then seamlessly combines them into a blended collage with only a handful of user input.

 Read more...

Darwin Papers Go Online

Charles Darwin’s book, The Origin of Species, helped changed our views about the world, and was one of the revolutionary texts of the 19th century.   Until now, though, all the papers he’d put together during his voyage on the Beagle and the first draft of the book could only be seen at the Cambridge University library. But they’ve become part of the 20,000 items now available in the Darwin Online archive, a vast resource not only for scholars but all those interested.   Dr. John van Whye, a Darwin scholar at Cambridge, told the BBC,   "The fact that everyone around the world can now see them on the web is simply fantastic. Charles Darwin is one of the most influential scientists in history. The collection of his papers now online is extremely important and therefore very exciting. This release makes his private papers, mountains of notes, experiments and research behind his world-changing publications available to the world for free."

Comcast to Stop Filtering Internet Traffic

Comcast to Stop Filtering Internet Traffic

In a surprise move, cable operator Comcast has reversed it’s controversial policy of filtering some types of network activity—like BitTorrent and other P2P file-sharing programs—in the name of "network management." According to a company statement, Comcast will treat all types of Internet traffic equally and adopt a new set of network and traffic management tools that don’t discriminate between different types of network traffic.

"This means that we will have to rapidly reconfigure our network management systems, but the outcome will be a traffic management technique that is more appropriate for today’s emerging Internet trends," said Comcast CTO Tony Werner, in a statement.

 Read more...

FCC Weighs in On Network Management

FCC Weighs in On Network Management

At a hearing yesterday in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin weighed in on Internet service providers that engage in "network management" practices that involve degrading service for some types of traffic—like file sharing applications—in favor of others. While allowing that service providers should be able to take reasonable steps to make sure their networks run efficiently, "the Commission is ready, willing, and able to step in if necessary," Martin wrote in a statement (PDF). "Consumers need to know if and how network management practices distinguish between different applications, so that consumers can configure their own applications and systems properly."

 Read more...

Cambridge SoundWorks Debuts Newton II

Cambridge SoundWorks followed up its well-received Newton HD speakers with a sequel line on Wednesday, the Newton Series II. The company claims it massaged the original speakers with new materials, refinements, and updated aesthetics.

Rather than using paper or plastic for the Newton II woofers, Cambridge SoundWorks reached into the exotic materials pile and came up with Kevlar, which it claims produces a stiff, light cone that operates over a wider range with less distortion and more midrange articulation. The company also substituted aluminum for plastic on the new dome tweeters, which supposedly produces a higher level of detail. All of the new speakers can be finished in either midnight black satin or cherry.  Read more...

OLPC Laptop Price Hits $175

OLPC Laptop Price Hits $175

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organization has revealed that the price for its XO laptop computer aimed at schools and education systems in the developing world has increased to $175 per unit. The initial goal of the program was to produce systems at $100 per unit; the price tag was eventually raised to $140, but only after several new features were added to the design, including a video-capable digital camera. However, MIT’s Nicholas Negroponte, who has spearheaded the project, remains confident costs will come down as much as 25 percent in the first year, as production ramps up and more orders are placed for the system.

 Read more...

Page 1 of 3123»

Join The Digital Trends Community

DT RSS Feed

Everyone wants to be an insider, and you can be one too! Choose your poison: sign-up for our Newsletter, join us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter. Do all three and you'll be swimming in the the latest news, reviews, videos and more gadget goodness!

DT Newsletter Sign-Up

Sign-up for the Digital Trends newsletter and find out about the latest contests, the hottest content, and the most popular videos. Let us keep you up-to-date!

Our Facebook

Become a DT soldier! Join us on Facebook and share the best news, guides, videos and other cool information directly with all your friends. Some might even thank you for it!

Join the thousands and follow the best of us on Facebook.

Twitter Us

Do you like information in small snippets? Then our Twitter feed is just for you. Follow Digital Trends and you'll be able to catch up daily on our latest content, or even interact directly with our team. Tweet Tweet!

Join the thousands and follow the best of us on Twitter.

That’s Right, Sign-up For Our Monthly Random Prize Drawings and You Could Be That Winner.