L-M

Long-Distance Wi-Fi

Intel has announced plans to sell a specialized Wi-Fi platform later this year that can send data from a city to outlying rural areas tens of miles away, connecting sparsely populated villages to the Internet. The wireless technology, called the rural connectivity platform (RCP), will be helpful to computer-equipped students in poor countries, says Jeff Galinovsky, a senior platform manager at Intel. And the data rates are high enough--up to about 6.5 megabits per second--that the connection could be used for video conferencing and telemedicine, he says.

The RCP, which essentially consists of a processor, radios, specialized software, and an antenna, is an appealing way to connect remote areas that otherwise would go without the Internet, says Galinovsky. Wireless satellite connections are expensive, he points out. And it’s impractical to wire up some villages in Asian and African countries. “You can’t lay cable,” he says. “It’s difficult, expensive, and someone is going to pull it up out of the ground to sell it.”

Already, Intel has installed and tested the hardware in India, Panama, Vietnam, and South Africa. Later this year, the company will sell the device in India, with a target price below $500. The point-to-point technology will require two nodes, which could provide “full back-end infrastructure” for less than $1,000, Galinovsky says.

Details Here: www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20432/?a=f

first published week of:   03/17/2008

Low-Power GPS

A traditional GPS receiver needs to process data from at least four satellites to determine its position; in a location–aware camera, that’s a huge battery drain. A GPS camera using a new system from Geotate, however, requires just a fraction as much satellite information. Once photos have been transferred from the camera to a computer, software queries a database of historic GPS data to determine where they were taken. By delegating all the computational work to the computer, the system allows the camera to consume only one–hundredth as much power as a conventional GPS receiver does.

Details Here: www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20953/?a=f

first published week of:   06/30/2008

map-centricTechnology Surges

First Lieutenant Brian Slaughter wanted his comrades to learn from the insurgent attack that could have killed him on May 21, 2004. Before dawn, the 30-year-old had been leading 12 men in three armored Humvees along a canal in Baghdad's al-Dora district when a massive blast from an improvised explosive device (IED) lifted his vehicle off the ground. Concealed attackers followed with a volley of rocket-propelled grenades and machine-gun fire. But the IED had been buried too deep to kill, a second IED detonated too early to hit the patrol, and a third failed to explode. When the brief battle ended, two insurgents were dead, and ten were prisoners. On the American side, one man had been injured, with a bullet to the leg.

Slaughter knew that information about the encounter could help his fellow soldiers--especially green replacements arriving from Fort Stewart, GA--avoid getting killed or maimed. It might help them capture insurgents, too. So when dawn broke, he explored the blast site with a digital camera. He took pictures of the mound of brown earth concealing the still-unexploded second IED, and of a red-and-white detonator cord that led to the device. He took pictures of a berm and a copse of palm trees that had concealed the enemy. He took pictures of the improvised weapon: a 155-millimeter artillery shell that had been drilled out and fitted with a fuse.

Details Here: www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20202/

first published week of:   02/25/2008

Mapping the Planets

Researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and MIT are developing a new generation of LIDAR (light detection and ranging) technology to map planetary bodies in more detail than ever before. These maps could help further our goals to explore outer space by providing more data about the geography and topography of the planet so that landing sites can be selected for future missions. The advanced LIDAR system could also be used to analyze the atmosphere on other planets to find out critical information about biohazards, wind speed, and temperature.

LIDAR works on a similar principle to radar, but through the use of lasers rather than radio waves. The laser is shot at an object, and the time delay between the pulse and the reflection is measured in order to accurately gauge the distance. The advantages of LIDAR over radar are twofold: LIDAR can be used to measure smaller objects, and it works on a greater variety of materials.

Details Here: www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20855/?a=f

first published week of:   06/09/2008

Microsoft readies new “don't blame Windows“ tool

Microsoft has begun privately beta testing a new tool, known as “Windows Advisor,” which is aimed at helping consumers better pinpoint why their Windows machines might not be up to snuff.

Details Here: ct.zdnet.com/clicks?t=53597954-0f002ae928080795611fc3391e742640-bf&brand=ZDNET&s=5

first published week of:   06/02/2008

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