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Driving your car into a cramped parking space can be a harrowing experience, but BMW says it has developed a robotic parking system to solve the problem.
The luxury carmaker's parking-assist technology will park your car for you as you stand outside and watch, according to BMW during the demo of a working prototype at its Munich headquarters this week.
All you do is press down on a remote-control button and your Beamer parks itself.

Video

sa: http://www.wired.com/news/technology...l?tw=rss.index

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Should Kamal Alavi's project for the high-tech airship take wing, the worlds of mobile telephony and data transmission would be turned on their heads.
Not only would the technology, called High Altitude Platform Systems (Haps), make the current 1,000 earth-bound antennas redundant, it would drastically reduce radiation.
A Swiss of Iranian extraction, Alavi is a former aerospace engineer turned entrepreneur who heads his own firm, Stratxx. Together with a team of 50 scientists, he is preparing a 2007 test run of the airship, which he has named the "X station".
Thanks to a GPS steering system developed by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the 60-meter long helium-filled balloon will remain stationary at 21 kilometres above the earth.
A small-unmanned aircraft outfitted with a mobile phone antenna and other devices for transmitting digital data will be attached to the zeppelin. The X station has been equipped with giant propellers to help counter the almost constant buffeting from the wind.
Solar panels will supply the energy to propel the airplane and antenna. Underneath will be a platform containing technical equipment, conceived by Ruag, the large Swiss aerospace concern.

sa: http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/feature...=1152528169000

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Dedicated hardware physics acceleration has become a hot topic this year. We at HardOCP have been vocal on the subject, both in the forms of editorial and giving you our opinions about whether or not you need to buy a physics card now. There is a lot of potential in what dedicated hardware physics acceleration can bring to your gameplay experience. Undoubtedly gameplay physics is in its infancy even though the basis has been around for a while. The industry itself is still trying to figure out just how to go about it in a way that will benefit the gamer the most while not sacrificing a game’s sales to a small install footprint. All the differing opinions and marketing fluff make it quite confusing to gamers and us at HardOCP as well. We were confused about some things and decided to ask some very pointed questions to all the gameplay physics suspects.
Three different hardware vendors are competing for your money using different software methods. You’ve got Ageia’s PhysX processor that is a dedicated card with a fast processor on board made to specifically accelerate physics using Ageia’s own PhysX engine. Then you have NVIDIA who announced that they can do the same thing with a GPU. Then ATI announced what they can do and expanded upon the GPU idea even further stating that the GPU might even be up to 9X the performance of the PhysX card with an X1900 XT. HavokFX was announced as the physics engine of choice for GPU acceleration currently.
With all these options available to you, the question is, “How do they differ in capability and what will be delivered in terms of gameplay immersion and performance?” There has been a lot of talk on forums across the Internet regarding “effects” physics and “gameplay” physics. The debate is argued that Ageia’s PhysX card can hardware accelerate effects physics and gameplay physics. It is argued that the PhysX card is favorable over GPUs because GPU physics have only announced effects physics acceleration and not gameplay physics acceleration. This is a debate that a lot of gamers are very confused about and I’ve seen multiple statements based on miss-information regarding the capability of the hardware and software of all three competitors. We hope that this article will clear this debate and offer insight into the two types of physics that exist in games.
Effect and Gameplay Physics?

sa: http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...50aHVzaWFzdA==

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Bacteria, such as this strain of Shewanella, will under particular environmental conditions sprout nanowires that can shuttle electricity to its neighboring cells. (Top: scanning electron microscopic image; bottom: fluorescence-stained micrograph.) Credit: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

When Yuri Gorby discovered that a microbe which transforms toxic metals can sprout tiny electrically conductive wires from its cell membrane, he reasoned this anatomical oddity and its metal-changing physiology must be related.
A colleague who had heard Gorby's presentation at a scientific meeting later reported that he, too, was able to coax nanowires from another so-called metal-reducing bacteria species and futher suggested the wires, called pili, could be used to bioengineer electrical devices.
It now turns out that not only are the wires and their ability to alter metal connected--but that many other bacteria, including species involved in fermentation and photosynthesis, can also form wires under a variety of environmental conditions.
"Earth appears to be hard-wired," said Gorby, staff scientist at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, who documents the seeming ubiquity of electrically conductive microbial life in the July 10 advance online Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
In a series of experiments, Gorby and colleagues induced nanowires in a variety of bacteria and demonstrated that they were electrically conductive. The bacterial nanowires were as small as 10 nanometers in diameter and formed bundles as wide as 150 nanometers. They grew to be tens of microns to hundreds of microns long.
The common thread involved depriving a microbe of something it needed to shed excess energy in the form of electrons. For example, Shewanella, of interest in environmental cleanup for its ability to hasten the weathering of toxic metals into benign ones, requires oxygen or other electron acceptors for respiration, whereas Synechocystis, a cyanobactetrium, combines electrons with carbon dioxide during photosynthesis.
Bereft of these "electron acceptors," bacterial nanowires "will literally reach out and connect cells from one to another to form an electrically integrated community," Gorby said.

sa: http://www.physorg.com/news71777718.html

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SMART's RDIMMs are specifically calibrated to allow 16GB per CPU running at 400MHz, which allows systems to sustain maximum performance in eight-socket configurations and is a key metric for PC3200 HPC applications. According to SMART Modular, it has improved signal integrity in the new RDIMMs by selecting, testing, and matching specific registers, PLLs, and DRAMs. In addition, by taking advantage of clock skewing, fine-tuning the serial presence detect values, and performing extensive system testing, SMART has enabled its RDIMM to achieve up to an 18% performance increase over other PC2700 2GB DIMMs used in Appro’s XtremeServer.
The double-sided 184-pin RDIMMs are equipped with error correction code and comply with the JEDEC and RoHS standards. Due to its high-speed and high-signal integrity, the new SMART RDIMMs allow 16GB per CPU running at 400MHz, which is a key metric for PC3200 HPC applications.
The new modules are available now with expedited delivery from SMART's strategically located manufacturing and distribution facilities around the globe (part number: SG25672RDTRIPLE8).

sa: http://www.digit-life.com/news.html

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Via Technologies has unveiled the Via VX700 chipset for the Via Ultra Mobile platform in UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) that will enable reduction of mobile form factors by up to 40 percent.
UMPC is a new category of devices that can fit comfortably into a pocket or handbag. According to Via, VX700 will enable smaller form factor "computing" devices with reduced power consumption and enhanced functionality.
Commenting on VX700, Chinhwaun Wu, special assistant to president, processor platform product marketing, Via Technologies, said, "The Via VX700 sets a new industry milestone for functionality and performance in a single chipset package. Together with the Via C7-M processor, Via can now offer a platform that breaks form factor barriers while maintaining comprehensive performance, a leading feature set, and ultra-low power operation for longer battery life."
DualCor Technologies' cPC is a UMPC that brings together all the capabilities of a PC and a mobile communications device in a sleek but rugged, handheld form factor.
Rob Howe, president, DualCor Technologies, said, "The Via VX700 chipset together with the Via C7-M ULV processor has enabled us to create a new convergence device that combines the convenience of a digital communications device, with the power of a conventional PC in a thin, elegant machine. The Via Ultra Mobile platform, featuring the Via VX700, has been critical in helping us achieve the cPC's small size and enhanced battery life, while still providing the performance that today's mobile user needs for everyday PC tasks."
According to Via, the VX700 is designed specifically for today's ultra thin 'n' light notebooks and ultra mobile devices. It integrates all the cutting-edge features of a modern chipset's North and South bridges, into a single chip package measuring just 35mm x 35mm that generates a silicon real estate saving of over 42 percent.
The Via VX700 features enhanced video quality through Via UniChrome Pro II IGP core with its 128-bit 2D/3D graphics; powerful image enhancement technology delivering a HD visual experience including advanced video acceleration for MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and WMV9; and memory controller technology with support for both DDR and the latest low power high-bandwidth DDR2 memory modules, etc.
The new chipset also has an integrated Via Vinyl HD Audio controller that supports up to eight high definition channels, delivering a richer digital media experience. The chipset includes support for SATA II and PATA drives, six USB2.0 ports, and four PCI slots. It provides extended flexibility to display technologies, with integrated multi-configuration LVDS/DVI transmitter for connection to LCD, and CRT/HDTV interfaces.
The Via VX700 will be priced at around $35 (Rs 1,600), and is expected to be available in volume quantities later in Q3 2006.

sa: http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp...471&cat_id=581

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Acer, one of the leading worldwide suppliers of IT solutions, today announced the new Aspire 5100 platform, a family of multimedia notebooks delivering cutting-edge performance and entertainment features for home users, students and SOHO professionals.
Based on the latest AMD Turion(TM) 64 X2 mobile technology, the new Acer Aspire 5100 series is designed for a 64-bit future -- the next generation of computer processing power -- delivering dual-core performance with long battery life. Dual-core technology delivers reliable performance for demanding PC applications and helps manage the ever-growing amount of digital content stored on home notebook PCs.
With the ability to stream digital content from MP3 players, digital cameras, digital video recorders, or personal video recorders (PVRs), the Aspire 5100 has a large Serial-ATA Hard Disk Drive (up to 160GB), a DVD super-multi double layer drive (or, upon availability, an innovative HD-DVD drive) and a handy 5-in-1 card-reader which assists users in efficiently storing thousand multimedia files for maximum flexibility.

sa: http://home.businesswire.com/portal/...27&newsLang=en

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It features a quiet 80mm fan cooling an aluminum fin array that is attached to two copper heatpipes. It also claims compatibility with a pleathora of graphic cards on the market. We shall put it through its paces and see if it dethrones the current king of the GPU cooling category, the Zalman VF700Cu.
Specifications:

Overall Dimension : 162 x 112 x 44mm
Heatsink Dimension: 145 x 112 x 38mm
DC Fan Size: 80 x 80 x 10mm
Heatsink Material : Heat Pipe
Bearing Type : Ever Lubricate bearing type (Long life bearing)
Speed : 2000±10% RPM
Rated Voltage : 12 V.DC
Weight : 300 g
Continued

sa: http://www.sgoverclockers.com/module...wcontent&id=49

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Ten Must-Have Additions to Windows XP
Whenever I do a squeaky-clean install of Windows XP (which seems to be at least once a month grr), there are always applications/additions/extensions/what have you that I add right away. I was recently contemplating yet another reinstall and, in making the list, thought it might be a good idea to put them down here so I don’t have to go chasing after these links when I need them in case people don’t know about (some of) them.

10. Alt-Tab Replacement
A Power-Toy from Microsoft, it shows you a thumbnail preview of the running applications when you press ALT+TAB (normally, you just get a small icon). This is especially useful if you’re one of those people who have twenty applications running at the same time.

9. ColorPic
Probably useful only for Graphics Designers and Web Designers. It allows you to pick colors from anywhere on the screen. It gives you the color values in RGB, HSV, and hexadecimal (used for web); it even tells you what web-safe color is nearest to the color that you picked (all though I typically don’t use this option all that much). Here’s a link.

8. iTunes
I doubt I’m going to have to do any explaining, so I won’t.

7. FileZilla or SmartFTP
FTP Clients. I used both of them, and both are good, fast, and realiable, but I have a slight preference for FileZilla over Smart FTP Client. Also, FileZilla is free whereas Smart FTP Client is a shareware. Which one you use ultimately depends on your personal tastes. Link to FileZilla. Link to Smart FTP Client.

6. ClamWin and WindowsDefender
Both are free virus-scanner for Windows; the latter is from Microsoft and still in beta. Link to ClamWin. Link to Windows Defender. .

5. Cropper
Screenshot utility. Before Cropper, making a screenshot meant going through the tedious task of hitting Print Screen (which grabs the whole screen), and cropping it in Photoshop (which doesn’t exactly have the fastest startup time). Trust me, Cropper is way better.

4. Firefox or Flock (or both)
There isn’t much to say about Firefox other than it rocks (most of the time). However, I’ve grown very fond of Flock, despite the fact that I rarely ever use its features (built-in photo management and blog-posting among others). It definitely has a better default UI/theme than Firefox.

3. Process Explorer
This is possibly (probably?) of interest only to more technically-inclined people, but all the same, Process Explorer from Sysinternals is an indespensible tool when it comes to digging up information about all the processes running on your computer, and oh so much better than Windows Task Manager.

2. WindowsBlinds or StyleXP
The default themes you get with Windows are ugly. (Fortunately, Microsoft seems to be going in the right direction with Vista.) WindowsBlinds and StyleXP allow you to install themes and turn your atrocious environment into something you just might like looking at every morning.

(StudioTwentyEight’s Tiger 2 Visual Style is quite excellent for all Mac-look enthusiasts out there.)

1. ClearType LCD Text Enhancement
Power-Toy from Microsoft. I found this little gem six months ago, installed it, turned it on, and never looked back.

Above links provided for convenience and NOT an indication of the safty or usability of the application. Neither VR-Zone or bbmf news require or reccommend the use of links of apps in this article.

sa: http://notebook.nikhedonia.com/index...to-windows-xp/

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A chat with Michael Dell
While custom PC builder Alienware may benefit from the much-increased purchasing power of its new corporate parent, Dell Computer, the development tracks of the two companies will remain separate. The reason, as Dell Computer Chairman Michael Dell revealed to TG Daily during a roundtable session with journalists on Sunday afternoon, is because his company's top-of-the-line XPS performance systems and Alienware's product line are targeted toward separate customer bases - still segments of the same gaming and enthusiast market, but still measurably different.

"I think what we've seen is that [the gaming and enthusiast segment] is a pretty big market," Mr. Dell told reporters, "and XPS has done quite well, [and] the Alienware brand has done quite well. We think their appeals are slightly different. The development teams are continuing on with the strategies that they've had, which are really very different. Each one has its own customer base."
According to Dell's own internal research, which Mr. Dell cited, the Dell and Alienware brands combined share 60% of the high-end gaming and enthusiast computer market in the US. Mr. Dell admitted there were few independent statistical measures of this market, but that he relies on internal figures.

It's a pretty simple equation, as Michael Dell sees it. Alienware and Dell reach separate segments of the same market, and should continue to do so.

Mr. Dell's comments came by way of introducing the XPS 700, the company's new top-of-the-line desktop PC, which unmistakably targets the high-end. The system not only will be Intel's first to ship with Nvidia's GeForce 7900, but will be available in an SLI configuration with two 7900s on-board. The 700 also features a model of Intel's Core 2 Extreme processor series so new that Intel hasn't announced it yet. In fact, Dell is actually waiting for Intel to make the formal announcement - which could come this week.
"XPS is really targeted at a first-to-market cadence with the key inflections, in terms of processor and video and other key ingredients," Michael Dell told reporters. As processors, graphics cards, and other components continue to be updated in four- and six-month intervals, he said, the buildouts of desktops and notebooks under the XPS brand will continue to be refreshed. "It'll be refreshed at a very, very fast rate - quite different from other product lines that we have. We're selling hundreds of thousands of computers to big, mega-corporations; they do not want them to change like that. They want a high level of consistency. This market [XPS] is totally different."
sa: http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/07/11/alienware_and_xps_developed_separately/

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The industry bodies of cell phone service providers and makers have informed the industry ministry of plans to unify specifications of cell phone sockets and battery charger plugs around 2010, when the use of fourth-generation phones will likely become full-fledged, ministry officials said Tuesday.

The standardization would enable cell phone users to continue to use the same chargers even after replacing phones with ones marketed by different service providers, they said. At present, the specifications used for cell phones' sockets by NTT DoCoMo Inc, KDDI Corp and Vodafone KK differ and their chargers are incompatible.


sa: http://www.crisscross.com/jp/news/378373

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scientists say "you may have been born that way"...

Got to get that gadget? It may be your genes.

THE woman fiddling with the most up-to-date mobile phone; the man with the latest electronic personal organiser; the children hooked on portable game systems...they, and millions more, are the victims of neophilia, an overwhelming need for the new and novel.
Now scientists have found a genetic basis for the affliction. They say people with a specific form of a cellular enzyme, known as monoamine oxidase A, are more in need of stimulation from new things.
In a paper published in the scientific journal Psychiatric Genetics, researchers from Japan's Yamagata University School of Medicine say the enzyme is "significantly associated with higher scores of novelty-seeking".
Essentially, that means people with the genetic predisposition to replace an existing gadget with the updated version simply cannot help themselves.
It may sound like a fantastic excuse for taking home a new laptop computer when the old one is still in pristine working order, but researchers say there are some fairly clear parallels with addiction disorders, and that this makes that sector of the population fertile ground for any company plugging the latest version of its gadget.
In a report on the phenomenon of "otaku" people, who are engrossed in the comic book and animated movie fantasy world, Nomura Research Institute supported the scientists' findings by saying there was a sub-section of people who would always buy the newest release, no matter the price, simply because they had to have it.
Not everyone buys into the theory, however, with critics suggesting the need for the newest is a relatively recent craving which, by definition, can't be genetic.
Others say it is purely a function of the curiosity that is innate in human beings, and that modern popular culture is helping to stimulate that fascination.

sa: http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=1008372006

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Nanotechnology company mPhase Technologies Inc. has been awarded the right to conduct a free series of technical tests at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, related to the company's development of lithium-based alternative chemistries for its prototype nano-structured battery.
Last year, mPhase (Norwalk, Conn.) and Rutgers agreed to begin collaboration on a research project designed to extend the mPhase nano-structured battery architecture to include more power-intensive chemistries. In February, both agreed to expand nanotechnology battery research to include lithium, broadening the effort to develop a long-life battery technology for consumer and industrial applications.
mPhase will leverage a state-funded program called Rutgers Service-to-Industry Program (RSIP), administered by the Office of Corporate Liaison and Technology Transfer Technology Transfer (OCLTT) in collaboration with the New Jersey Commission on Science & Technology. The funds are awarded competitively to small businesses invited to submit a proposal for in-kind laboratory testing services by Rutgers.
"Our objective is to engage our partners at the Rutgers Energy Storage Research Group, affiliated with the Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, to conduct a series of tests to assist us in characterizing the design and suitability of the structures and coatings that comprise the battery architecture," said Steve Simon, mPhase executive vice president of R&D, in a statement. "These are necessary steps that, by virtue of the grant, will supplement our ongoing technical efforts at no cost to mPhase



sa: http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/s...leID=190302250

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FOLLOWING THE CONVENTION recently set by Nvidia and ATI, e-tailers are continuing to make yet unannounced products available for sale.
So, the battle of "I am on the market" is set to continue with Intel Core 2 Duos and Extremes, most widely known as "Conroe". It seems that Intel realised what it needed to do in order to capture the hearts of enthusiasts.
A certain e-tailer got a hold of ten or so Extreme Edition Conroes, to be known as Core 2 Extreme X6800. Sadly, e-tailer got the name wrong, but the product is in stock at the time of writing. If you want to buy Conroe Extreme today and you have around $1,200 to spare, run to the east side of the moon. Using our complementary L'INQ, of course.
If you're living in ol' mother Europe, then we advise you to go shopping searching via German-speaking Geizhals, one of the largest European price comparison sites.

sa: http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32904

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For those of you lucky enough to own one of the newest nVidia based motherboards, be wary of the latest WHQL driver set. The nForce 500 series chipsets seem to have many problems with the 91.31 video card drives and 9.16 chipset drivers, both of which are WHQL certified. The problems including crashing and data corruption, which is not only inconvenient but potentially harmful. While there may be other factors involved, the safe recommendation is to use the stable 84.21 driver set or the beta 91.33 drivers.sa: http://www.techspot.com/news/22174-w...00-series.html