3M Miniprojector

By John P. Mello Jr.TechNewsWorld 01/25/10 6:00 AM PT





The 3M MPro120 is a pocket-sized, lightweight projector that can cast video and images of up to 50 inches on just about any surface. Those videos and images can come from a wide range of gadgets and devices, and 3M pack in an ampe supply of connectors and adapters. Accompanying documentation is sparse, but the gizmo is easy enough to figure out without too much guesswork.

Digital cameras have been around for so long that for some shutter buffs, it's difficult to remember a time when they didn't exist. It's even more difficult to recall the days when a slide projector was a necessary accessory for an image-grabbing hobbyist.

Projectors, though, may be poised for a comeback. We're not talking about the boxy heavyweights from the days when 35 millimeter slides were king, but a new wave of small, compact offerings that fit in the palm of the hand. One such projector is 3M's MPro120 pocket projector (US$299-$350).
The MPro120 is the kind of gadget that's irresistible to gizmo lovers. It's a little bigger than an old microcassette recorder, simple to set up and use, lightweight at 5.3 ounces and capable of displaying an image from eight to 50 inches, measured diagonally, on any surface. White, reflective surfaces, though, yield the best results.

Simple Controls

Most of the unit's controls are located on top of the device. A power button is situated there surrounded by a ring. Pressing the ring at 12 and six o'clock increases or decreases the projector's volume. At nine and three o'clock are controls for increasing the unit's brightness and checking its battery life.

At the bottom of the MPro120 is a port for input from a VGA device, such as a laptop or a gadget with audio-visual output -- a digital camera, camcorder or media player.
At the front of the projector is its lens and a dial for focusing it. On its posterior is a standard tripod mount. A Gorillapod-type tripod is included with the projector so it need not be held while displaying content on a surface.
A panel below the tripod mount slides off the device to reveal its battery compartment. A lithium polymer battery is packaged with the product. It takes about two hours to charge and provides from two to four hours of battery life.

Adaptors Galore

The MPro120 is an upgrade of 3M's earlier MPro110 pocket projector. Both models have the same resolution -- 640 by 480 pixels -- but a longer-lasting LED lighting system has been installed in the newer model. The new one boasts 20,000 hours compared to 10,000 hours, brightness has been increased (12 lumens compared to 10 lumens), and battery life has been boosted (240 minutes at 12 lumens, 120 minutes at 10 lumens compared to one hour at 10 lumens). The new unit, however, is slightly larger than the older model -- 4.72 by 2.3 by 0.9 inches versus 4.5 by 1.9 by 0.8 inches. [*Correction - Jan. 25, 2010]
In the box with the MPro120 are a number of cables and adapters to make the unit immediately useful as soon as its battery is charged.
There's an AC power adapter with multiple heads to accommodate a variety of wall outlets. The heads plug into the AC adapter and secure themselves to it with a twist.
There's a video cable. One end plugs into the A/V port; the other end has three RCA connectors -- red, yellow and gray.

If the device you're connecting the projector to has RCA inputs -- a camcorder, for instance -- you can connect the cable directly to it. Some gadgets, though, don't have those inputs. For those devices, 3M includes three adapters that allow the connectors on the cable to connect with the RCA connectors from the other device.
There's also a VGA cable that allows video output to be sent from a device, such as a laptop, to the projector.

iPod Connection Optional

While the array of cables and adapters 3M packages with the MPro120 is impressive, iPod users will find the collection disappointing. That's because the cable for connecting an iPod, iPod Touch or iPhone to the projector must be purchased separately. The same is true for the automobile adapter for running or charging the unit in a car.
Although simple by nature, the MPro120's documentation is a bit skimpy. It has a "quick start guide," and that's it.
Picture quality from the projector was good. As might be expected, the smaller the projected size, the brighter the display.
The unit also has its own speakers, which won't awe an audience in a conference room, but are satisfactory in more intimate settings.
Overall, the MPro120 is a solidly designed product that's engineered for the kind of intuitive user experience that produces smiles right out of the box.
Whether or not micro projectors like the MPro120 will become as ubiquitous as the carousel projector only a Don Draper may know, but they're certainly more fun and less of a hassle to use.

Infromation from : technewsworld

My Review about Apple Tablet

Today i will write about new technologies created the Apple Tablet.

Everywhere is talking about new dewil machine Apple Tablet :D
First impression for me was comparision huge screen. The tablet, many have reported, will serve as a slate-like substitute for magazines, newspapers and books, while also offering the general-purpose functions seen in the iPhone, such as gaming, viewing photos, navigation, web surfing and using apps. It's very good too read books , i like reading books so i will like this feature also.
But when i asked this thing price i don't like this product more . :DD
A 10-inch LCD touchscreen, on the other hand, would cost Apple $60 much more in line with the expected $1,000 price tag. I like the touch screen too but it's are on many new generation cell phones or apple products so i don't be very happy because this future i see many times but this future also add some good functions. I liked very good and cool ''Tablet'' design , the menu is also very cool.
The WSJ again says it's shipping in March after being announced later this month (though the "ship date hasn't been finalized and could still change"), while All Things D says more specifically it's being announced Jan. 27.

That was my short review about ''Apple Tablet'' . So now i waiting this product and i necessarily will try it when it will be possible to do. ;]

Life with robotic hand

By Ariel DavidAP 12/02/09 8:48 AM PT





A man who lost his hand and forearm in an accident has learned to control an electronic prosthesis using his thoughts. The patient can also feel sensations through the experimental artificial limb. The next step is to see how long the device's electrodes can safely remain implanted in the patient's arm, according to the biomechanics researchers running the experiment.








A group of European scientists said Wednesday they have successfully connected a robotic hand to an amputee, allowing him to feel sensations in the artificial limb and control it with his thoughts.







The experiment lasted a month, and scientists say it was the first time a patient has been able to make complex movements using his mind to control a biomechanical hand connected to his nervous system.

The Italian-led team said at a news conference Wednesday in Rome that last year it implanted electrodes into the arm of the patient who had lost his left hand and forearm in a car accident.

Pierpaolo Petruzziello's arm is linked with electrodes to a robotic hand, seen at top left, as part of an experiment to control the prosthesis with his thoughts.

The prosthetic was not implanted on the patient, only connected through the electrodes. During the news conference, video was shown of 26-year-old Pierpaolo Petruzziello as he concentrated to give orders to the hand placed next to him.
"It's a matter of mind, of concentration," Petruzziello said. "When you think of it as your hand and forearm, it all becomes easier."

'Important Advancement'

During the month he had the electrodes connected, Petruzziello learned to wiggle the robotic fingers independently, make a fist, grab objects and make other movements.

"Some of the gestures cannot be disclosed because they were quite vulgar," joked Paolo Maria Rossini, a neurologist who led the team working at Rome's "Campus Bio-Medico," a university and hospital that specialize in health sciences.

The 2 million euro (US$3 million) project, funded by the European Union, took five years to complete and produced several scientific papers that have been published or are being submitted to top journals, including Science Translational Medicine and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Rossini said.
Experts not involved in the study told The Associated Press the experiment was an important step forward in creating an interface between the nervous system and prosthetic limbs, but the challenge now is ensuring that such a system can remain in the patient for years and not just a month.

"It's an important advancement on the work that was done in the mid-2000s," said Dustin Tyler, a professor at Case Western Reserve University and biomedical engineer at the VA Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio. "The important piece that remains is how long beyond a month we can keep the electrodes in."

'Almost the Same'

After Petruzziello recovered from the microsurgery he underwent to implant the electrodes in his arm, it only took him a few days to master use of the robotic hand, Rossini said. By the time the experiment was over, the hand obeyed the commands it received from the man's brain in 95 percent of cases.
Petruzziello, an Italian who lives in Brazil, said the feedback he got from the hand was amazingly accurate.
"It felt almost the same as a real hand. They stimulated me a lot, even with needles ... you can't imagine what they did to me," he joked with reporters.
While the "LifeHand" experiment lasted only a month, this was the longest time electrodes had remained connected to a human nervous system in such an experiment, said Silvestro Micera, one of the engineers on the team. Similar, shorter-term experiments in 2004-2005 had hooked up amputees to a less-advanced robotic arm, and patients were only able to make basic movements, he said.
Experts around the world have developed other thought-controlled prostheses. One approach used in the United States involves surgery to graft shoulder nerves onto pectoral muscles and then learning to use those muscles to control a bionic arm.

While that approach is necessary when the whole arm has been lost, if a stump survives doctors could opt for the less invasive method proposed by the Italians, connecting the prosthesis to the same system the brain uses to send and receive signals.
"The approach we followed is natural," Rossini said. The patient "didn't have to learn to use muscles that do a different job to move a prosthesis, he just had to concentrate and send to the robotic hand the same messages he used to send to his own hand."

More Work Necessary

It will take at least two or three years before scientists try to replicate the experiment with a more long-term prosthesis, the experts said. First they need to study if the hair-thin electrodes can be kept in longer.
Results from the experiment are encouraging, as the electrodes removed from Petruzziello showed no damage and could well stay in longer, said Klaus-Peter Hoffmann, a biomedical expert at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the German research institute that developed the electrodes.
More must also be done to miniaturize the technology on the arm and the bulky machines that translate neural and digital signals between the robot and the patient.
Key steps forward are already being made, Rossini said. While working with Petruzziello, the Italian scientists also were collaborating on a parallel EU-funded project called "SmartHand," which has developed a robotic arm that can be directly implanted on the patient.

© 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

© 2009 ECT News Network. All rights reserved.

Robots in the Home?

By Brooke DonaldAP 12/13/09 4:00 AM PT


It's not as though we'll be able to have our own Rosie from 'The Jetsons' anytime soon. However, robots are slowly making their way into our homes to help with simple tasks. As their abilities grow and prices drop, scientists and legal scholars have begun discussing some of the potential problems that a close, daily relationship with robots may bring about.


Eric Horvitz illustrates the potential dilemmas of living with robots by telling the story of how he once got stuck in an elevator at Stanford Hospital with a droid the size of a washing machine.
"I remembered thinking, 'Whoa, this is scary,' as it whirled around, almost knocking me down," the Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) researcher recalled. "Then, I thought, 'What if I were a patient?' There could be big issues here."
We're still far from the sci-fi dream of having robots whirring about and catering to our every need. However, little by little, we'll be sharing more of our space with robots in the next decade, as prices drop and new technology creates specialized machines that clean up spilled milk or even provide comfort for an elderly parent.
Now scientists and legal scholars are exploring the likely effects. What happens if a robot crushes your foot, chases your cat off a ledge or smacks your baby? While experts don't expect a band of Terminators to attack or a 2001: A Space Odyssey computer that takes control, even simpler, benign robots will have legal, social and ethical consequences.


Helping Out Around the House
"As we rely more and more on automated systems, we have to think of the implications. It is part of being a responsible scientist," Horvitz said.
Horvitz assembled a team of scientists this year when he was president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and asked them to explore the future of human-robot interactions. A report on their discussions is due next year.
For years, robots have been used outside the home. They detect bombs on the battleground, build cars in factories and deliver supplies and visit patients in hospitals.
However, the past few years have seen the rise of home robots. Mainly they are used for tasks like vacuuming (think Roomba). There are also robotic lawn mowers, duct cleaners, surveillance systems and alarm clocks. There are robotic toys for entertainment, such as Furby. Robotic companions, like Paro the harbor seal, comfort the elderly. By 2015, personal robot sales in the U.S. will exceed US$5 billion, more than quadrupling what they are now, according to ABI Research, which analyzes technology trends.


"You won't see Rosie from 'The Jetsons,' but you're going to see more and more robots that help maintain your home. They'll pick up stuff off the floor, stock your fridge, carry stuff from the car," said Colin Angle, CEO of iRobot, which makes the Roomba.

Send In the Lawyers

As such 'bots become more sophisticated, they could complicate questions about product liability. Ryan Calo, a fellow with Stanford's Center for Internet and Society, pointed out in a recent panel discussion at Stanford Law School that the original manufacturer might not always be liable if a robot went haywire.
"Robots are not just things the manufacturer builds and you go out and use them in a specific way. Robots can often be instructed, they can be programmed, you can have software that is built upon by others," he said.
There are no laws in the U.S. specifically governing robots, and discussion of them usually leads to science fiction writer Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, which debuted in his 1942 short story "Runaround."
The first of Asimov's laws is that robots should do no harm. It's also one of the biggest considerations when manufacturing the next generation of personal robots.
"If a robot becomes increasingly autonomous and can make its own decisions, what happens if the robot does not carry out the exact wishes of the person?" said George Bekey, a robotics researcher and professor emeritus at University of Southern California.

As robots interact more closely with people, the bonds some people form with the machines -- even ones that do not look like humans -- might need to be considered.
Shoppers personalize their Roombas, naming and decorating them, for example. Angle recalled an incident when a soldier plucked a banged-up military robot nicknamed Scooby from an Iraqi battlefield and carried it to a depot to be fixed.
"It's doing you a service, you're going to get attached to it," Angle said.

Key Ingredient: Ethics

Ronald Arkin teaches a course on robots and society at Georgia Tech and directs the school's Mobile Robot Laboratory. His most recent book is titled "Governing Lethal Behavior in Autonomous Robots."
"There needs to be ethics embedded in the systems," he said. "It's not just making a system that assists someone. It's making a system that interacts with someone in a way that respects their dignity."
Horvitz said his panel will recommend more research into the psychological reactions humans have to robotic systems. The group, he said, also suggests machines be designed with the ability to explain their reasoning to humans.
While ethicists, lawyers and roboticists ponder how to best integrate humans and autonomous machines, there is some evidence that a balance is already beginning to be struck.
After returning to visit the Stanford hospital several years later, Horvitz noticed a sign hanging above the spot where he had his harrowing experience. It read: "Please Do Not Board the Elevator With the Robot."

Skype Video Chat to Flat-Screen TVs

By Renay San MiguelTechNewsWorld 01/05/10 12:09 PM PT



















VoIP provider Skype has struck deals with two TV makers offer over-the-Internet videoconferencing features to users. LG and Panasonic will release Web-connected TVs later this year which, combined with a separately sold webcam, will enable video chat from one's living room. Skype also announced the availability of 720p HD video chat on its existing PC video call technology.



Skype's new strategy for 2010: Your flat-screen TV in your living room can now be your phone. Or, if your tastes run more toward "The Twilight Zone," think of it as your TV watching you -- as you watch TV.



The makers of popular software that allows users to make free phone and video calls via the Internet announced new deals Tuesday with LG and Panasonic that put Skype inside new Web-connected versions of their HDTVs. Starting sometime in mid-2010, consumers who buy new Panasonic Viera TVs and LG sets with NetCast Access will be able to plug in special webcams (sold separately) and enjoy face-to-face conversations with family and friends.



Skype earned its reputation as a low-cost alternative to traditional phone calls via your PC, and that particular platform wasn't ignored in Tuesday's spate of announcements. The company also said it is now supporting 720p high-definition video calls over computers, and those attending this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas will get a chance to check out new HD webcams from Skype partners faceVsion and In Store Solutions that do all the software encoding within the cameras.

However, it's the move to expand Skype's domain from the home office to the family room that signals an important new direction for the seven-year-old company.

Dialing Up Customer Demand
"We're looking at how our customers are using Skype, and we've been running a ton of studies about what they want," Skype director of business development Manrique Brenes told TechNewsWorld. "People want to have a better Skype experience and a more relaxed experience, and being able to go to their living rooms is a natural environment for it."
Not that Skype is forgetting about the home-office users who make up a large portion of its customer base. "This is a business play as well. Most of our users use Skype for some kind of business engagement, and so this is also a natural evolution for them. These new systems are good entry-level solutions that will make Skype even better," Brenes said.
The new PC webcams start at US$120; no prices have been announced yet for the Skype-friendly HDTVs. If they are anywhere near the consumer "sweet spot," the company may see a boom in business, said Scott Steinberg, publisher and editor-in-chief of DigitalTrends.com .

"Anything that expands their market is of great benefit to them," Steinberg told TechNewsWorld. "We've heard about mainstream video conferencing for years, and deals like this could finally bring this to fruition. For grandparents hoping to see their grandchildren half a country away, or for folks in international time zones hoping to catch up with friends -- it's amazing to think that this is what we now have in this day and age, that (video conference) is going to be more accessible."


Reeducating the Tech-Shy Consumer?

The webcams will be relatively easy to plug in to Skype-friendly TVs, Brenes said, and ease-of-use shouldn't be a problem. Those wanting to take advantage of the new HD webcams for PCs will need processors that run at speeds of at least 1.8GHz to enjoy the 720p video.
However, even with more help for tech-intimidated consumers, Steinberg said Skype will have to reintroduce its calling features to a potential new audience who may not know that Skype-to-Skype calls are free, and calls to non-Skype landlines and mobile phones can be much cheaper than traditional services.
"Unquestionably, consumers will have to be reeducated about the benefits and the ease of use, especially with the TV," he said. "The TVs should help break down barriers to entry. People are fairly comfortable using their remotes. This is the first time you are seeing this technology bridging this gap. Within a matter of years, maybe three years, a lot more people could be using their living rooms as a video conferencing hub."

VoFi - The new wireless technology

By Jay BotelhoTechNewsWorld 01/28/10 5:00 AM PT

One technology enabled by the ratification of 802.11n is Voice over Wireless, or VoFi. As with VoIP, making VoFi work requires smart management, reducing endpoint delays, prioritizing traffic and monitoring all network traffic to ensure the needs of both voice and data traffic are being adequately met. Are you prepared to manage your new VoFi environment?

In case you missed it, seven long years of wrangling have come to an end: 802.11n has now been officially ratified by the IEEE.
Super-fast WiFi is here. The 802.11n standard ushers in increased network throughput and range that will change wireless access, services and applications . With this final blessing, any hesitancy that existed within many organizations around 802.11n deployment has been removed.
One application of note enabled by 802.11n is Voice over Wireless, also known as "VoFi." VoFi significantly enhances the value of a wireless network by first untethering employees to an even greater degree. In our homes, we take cordless telephones for granted. In the office, we tolerate corded phones and often miss calls as the time spent in our offices decreases with each passing year. 802.11n provides the infrastructure necessary for cordless telephony to every employee, using the same network that we've come to rely on for wireless data. A simple desktop phone replacement is typically all that's required.

Performance and Cost
VoFi also enhances the value of the wireless network by allowing organizations to capitalize the expense of an 11n upgrade by eliminating some billable telephone traffic, both wired and wireless, and carrying it on an 11n wireless network. This is especially true for intra-office or campus traffic, resulting in an immediate and recurring cost savings.
VoFi systems have already found wide acceptance in some vertical markets, including manufacturing, medical and retail, where employee mobility is a given. Why are these industries and others turning away from both wired and cellular-based calling and turning toward VoFi? It comes down to performance and cost.

Poor indoor cellular coverage creates unacceptable quality for users. This is especially true in the interior spaces of large buildings or in facilities with a substantial amount of electronic interference, like hospitals. VoFi provides the flexibility to tune coverage to ensure that all areas where telephone access is required have exceptional coverage, eliminating dropped calls and guaranteeing excellent call quality.
VoFi also eliminates the unnecessary expense of intra-building calls over cellular, which is the common operational model used today to achieve employee mobility. Smartphones that provide both 802.11 and cellular capabilities are becoming much more widely available, making a simple handset upgrade all that is needed to achieve significant cost reductions. There's no reason to think the adoption of VoFi won't continue to increase as ABI Research predicts that by 2014, 90 percent of smartphones will support 802.11.

Beyond the ratification of 802.11n, there are a number of reasons to expect increased adoption of VoFi. Notably, new capabilities and technologies suggest a cellular handoff to VoFi is a reasonable assumption (at what pace is up for debate). According to Burton Group, the market is ripe, as the number of business calls on mobile cellular phones now exceeds that on wired desktop phones. New Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) products and services that combine wired and wireless telecom are rapidly coming to market. So if there are performance and cost advantages to be gained by switching to VoFi, organizations will at least consider a switch.

VoFi and VoIP
New problems accompany new technologies, and VoFi is no different. The VoIP experience can serve as a good guide to identifying and resolving potential VoFi problems. Both VoIP and VoFi share voice as a key element, which has very unique networking requirements as compared to typical data traffic on the network. Voice traffic is highly susceptible to packet loss, jitter and latency -- resulting in dropped calls, interruptions and other issues. These problems are more pronounced on wireless networks, as they tend to have more latency and interference than a wired network.
So how do you determine how well your VoFi is performing? Again, let's look at VoIP metrics as a benchmark for VoFi.
Latency is simply a lag and measures of how long it takes a voice packet to reach its destination. The lower the latency, of course, the better the voice quality. Industry guidelines put the highest acceptable latency at 150 milliseconds (ms). Any higher and quality begins to degrade. Halting conversations, echoing and overlapping sounds (noises, words) are caused by high latency.

Jitter takes place when packet delivery suffers from variable delay, which affects the quality of conversations. To help compensate for this, jitter buffering is often employed to smooth the variability and allow for reordering voice packets which may arrive out of order, but this adds additional delay to voice reaching the earpiece and needs to be factored into the overall latency budget. Packets delayed too long in the network are not allowed to enter the jitter buffer. Though relatively easy to measure, the effects of jitter are often difficult to assess. Packets delayed more than the buffer delay (100 ms as an example) are typically dropped, resulting in missing syllables and sometimes even missing words in the conversation.
Packet loss occurs when there's disruption in the network (e.g., heavy traffic, congestion without adequate quality of service provisions, jitter buffer discards due to excessive latency, etc.). This usually results in dropped conversations, missing sounds, or cutting out in the conversation. As a rule, packet loss in VoIP (and VoFi) should never exceed 1 percent, which essentially means one voice skip every three minutes. DSP algorithms may compensate for up to 30 ms of missing data; any more than this, and missing audio will be noticeable to listeners.
As with VoIP, making VoFi work requires smart management, reducing endpoint delays, prioritizing traffic and monitoring all network traffic to ensure the needs of both voice and data traffic are being adequately met.

VoFi is coming. Gigabit speed WiFi enabled by the new 802.11n standard is going to take communications to the next level. It's being rapidly baked, if not already so, into chipsets at unprecedented speeds and will likely outstrip older-generation 802.11 standards. So with this new technology comes opportunities and challenges. Are you prepared to manage your new VoFi environment?

Extreme HD: IBM Makes MRI Tech 100 Million Times Sharper

By Walaika HaskinsTechNewsWorld 01/13/09 2:40 PM PT

Researchers from IBM and Stanford University have developed technology to boost the resolution in magnetic resonance imaging by a factor of 100 million. Used in a microscope, this technology may be powerful enough to decipher the structure and interactions of proteins, which could greatly impact medicine and drug design.


Scientists at IBM (NYSE: IBM) Research, along with researchers the Center for Probing the Nanoscale at Stanford University, say they have developed and demonstrated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology with volume resolution 100 million times finer than conventional MRI.
Results of the demonstration were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The development represents a significant step forward in tools for molecular biology and nanotechnology by providing the ability to study complex 3-D structures at the nanoscale, according to IBM.


Extending MRI to such fine resolution enabled scientists to create a microscope that, once fully developed, may be powerful enough to decipher the structure and interactions of proteins and pave the way for new advances in personalized healthcare and targeted medicines.
"If we achieve our ultimate goal of atomic resolution, it could have a tremendous impact on medicine and drug design. We certainly hope that if this happens, the technology will be commercialized in some way. Right now, it is too early to even guess about how the commercialization would happen or what the time frame for practical applications would be," Dan Rugar, manager of Nanoscale Studies at IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif., told TechNewsWorld.
The technology will also impact the study of materials -- from proteins to integrated circuits -- for which a detailed understanding of atomic structure is essential, IBM said.

Better Than 20/20
A technique dubbed "magnetic resonance force microscopy" (MRFM), which relies on detecting ultrasmall magnetic forces, made the advancement possible. The boost in resolution is not the only benefit offered by this new technology. It is also chemically specific, can "see" below surfaces and is non-destructive to sensitive biological materials, unlike electron microscopy.
Scientists at IBM have also made advances in MRFM, not only boosting the sensitivity of the technology but also combining it with an advanced 3-D image reconstruction techniques. This enabled them to use the MRI on nanometer-scale biological objects for the first time.

The new device does not function like a conventional MRI scanner using gradient and imaging coils. Rather, the researchers use MRFM to detect tiny magnetic forces as the sample sits on a microscopic cantilever, a tiny sliver of silicon shaped like a diving board. Laser interferometry tracks the motion of the cantilever, which vibrates slightly as magnetic spins in the hydrogen atoms of the sample interact with a nearby nanoscopic magnetic tip. The tip is scanned in three dimensions and the cantilever vibrations are analyzed to create a 3-D image, IBM explained.

Not Used Like a Conventional MRI

However, while the technology is an advance in magnetic resonance imaging, its applications are not necessarily intended for a hospital setting.
"The MRFM is not a diagnostic instrument. It is not designed for a hospital setting or to diagnose patients in the way conventional MRI is used. MRFM relies on detecting ultrasmall magnetic forces; our hope is that nanoMRI will eventually allow us to directly image the internal structure of individual protein molecules and molecular complexes, which is key to understanding biological function. This technology signals a significant step forward in tools for molecular biology and nanotechnology by offering the ability to study complex 3-D structures at the nanoscale," Rugar stated.

Information from : http://www.technewsworld.com/

Microsoft Windows Mobile 7

Microsoft's long and winding road toward regaining lost ground in the cell phone business will reach an important milestone in Barcelona next month.
At the annual Mobile World Congress event, Microsoft will at long last show off Windows Mobile 7--its oft-delayed major revamp of the decade-old Windows CE code base that has been at the core of its mobile operating system since the days of challenging the Palm Pilot.

Sources told CNET that Microsoft is still planning to finalize the code for Windows Mobile 7 by summer in order to have the new software on devices that ship before the end of the year.
Separately, though, Microsoft is also working on a new consumer phone line, early pictures of which cropped up last year, that is designed to be the next generation of the Sidekick product line that Microsoft inherited with its acquisition of Danger.
Although it is not a widely rumored "Zune Phone," the new consumer device is based on Windows Mobile and likely to be able to connect to Zune and other consumer services that Microsoft has been developing for some time now, sources said. That product, also due to arrive this year, should come earlier in the year ahead of Windows Mobile 7 devices.
Microsoft declined to comment on Windows Mobile 7 or the new consumer device, but Robbie Bach, the head of the company's entertainment division, did tell CNET in an interview at January's Consumer Electronics Show that Microsoft would have a lot more to say about the future of the phone business in Barcelona. Microsoft has also promised developers headed to the Mix 10 trade show in March that they will be able to get information on how to program for Windows Mobile 7.
"Yes, at MIX10 you'll learn about developing applications and games for the next generation of Windows Phone," Microsoft said on the Mix Web site in a Jan. 20 update. "Yes, we'll have Phone sessions, and we can't say more...yet."
Although Microsoft has typically been loath to make major changes to the desktop version of Windows at the expense of compatibility, the software maker appears ready to make a bigger break with its mobile past--a sensible move given its declining share of both the market and developer interest.
With Windows Mobile 7 hit by several delays, Microsoft last year released Windows Mobile 6.5, an interim update designed to make the current operating system more "finger-friendly" on touch-based devices. The company also rebranded devices using its operating system as "Windows Phones" and launched a new marketing campaign.
At the same time, though, longtime Windows Mobile phone makers including Motorola and HTC have been gravitating toward Google's Android mobile phone operating system. LG, which had planned to center its smartphone efforts on Windows Mobile, has also said it will offer a number of Android-based devices.

Information from : http://news.cnet.com/

Apple tablet frenzy

After months of rumors and speculation about a slate-like device, Apple will have its say on Wednesday. We'll be bringing you live coverage from the high-profile press event, set to kick off in San Francisco at 10 a.m. PST.
In the meantime, here's a column about what we expect to see and what we hope we'll see. Check back in this post once the event starts for all the live, up-to-the minute updates.

The press checks in for the big Apple event Wednesday morning outside the venue.(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

The scene outside San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts before Wednesday morning's big Apple event.(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Inside the building, awaiting Steve Jobs (assuming he'll be doing the announcing). (Credit: James Martin/CNET)

9:53 a.m. PST: OK, we're all settled inside Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, where the event should get going in just under 10 minutes. I'm with CNET reviewer Donald Bell, who will be providing some occasional commentary today. The place is packed already and Bob Dylan is on the speakers. The stage is a bit of a different setup than we've seen at these events before, with a comfortable-looking leather chair and table set up on the left.
10:01 a.m.: Lights are lowering, music is getting turned down. Here we go.
10:01 a.m.: Steve Jobs takes the stage to a standing ovation.
10:02 a.m.: He says he wants to kick off 2010 by introducing a truly magical and revolutionary product today. But first a few updates to other products.
iPods up first. Steve says the 250 millionth iPod was sold last week.
10:03 a.m.: Now he's talking about retail stores.
10:03 a.m.: And another store, the App Store, an "incredible phenomenon" he says. With 140K apps on the App Store, there have been 3 billion downloads over the past 18 months
10:04 a.m.: Finally, he shows an old photo of himself and Woz and says since they started the company in 1976, and now they have a company making $15.6 billion in revenue. "Apple is an over $50 billion company," now he says.

A seat and small table on stage--that's not typical for these events.(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Steve Jobs takes the stage(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

10:05 a.m.: He is going to explain where the revenue comes from: iPods, iPhones, and Macs. "What's interesting" he says is iPods, iPhones and Macs are mobile devices. Apple is a mobile device company. "That's what we do."
10:06 a.m.: Apple is the largest mobile devices company in the world now, by revenue, according to Jobs. He says this includes Sony, Samsung, and Nokia's mobile devices units.
10:06 a.m.: End of updates. Now to the main event.

Information from : http://news.cnet.com/