Motorola has cleared things up regarding the ROKR's absence at CeBIT and why they pulled their plans to announce the iTunes phone at the last second. Apparently, it stems simply from the differing product launch philosophies of the two companies. Motorola likes to show its products off before a launch whereas "Steve's perspective is that you launch a product on Sunday and sell it on Monday," says Ron Garriques, Motorla's mobile phone division president. The initial speculation that the troubles stemmed from the urging of one or more wireless carriers was quickly put to bed by Ron, saying "I've got lots of carriers fighting to be the first one we go with." It seems that we're just going to have to wait for Apple and Motorola to simply surprise us one day, apparently, this summer.

Motorola Cites Apple for Non-Show of iTunes Phone [Reuters]

10:20:02 AM    comment   

Here comes the science-speak: Existing volatile memory (i.e. RAM) is stored in capacitors that hold electrons in two distinct states and must be recharged several thousand times per second, because the electrons tend to leak out. Researchers at Philips Research Laboratories in the Netherlands have developed a new method for high-capacity, static (non-volatile) RAM that wouldn't require a constant refresh. Applying pulses of electricity in varying degrees to a material known as antimony telluride can cause its atoms to either line up or sink back into chaos. Switching between an amorphous and crystalline state, a computer can differentiate between the two because of the crystalline state's significantly lower electrical resistance. We briefly explain the advantages over current flash memory after the jump.

Atoms never forget [nature via nanodot]

10:02:56 AM    comment   

Siemens has developed a sweet little wearable, Bluetooth-based badge that lets you speak commands to control your house, talk to others in your house and accept and conduct phone calls. For all intents and purposes, lest any of you be confused, this is life imitating art in the finest sense. The system can recognize 30,000 words once you press the button on the badge to activate it. I'd give it no more than 10 years before this sort of technology trickles down into the middle class, but I hope to see it sooner than that. Now, if only the system would give feedback in Majel Roddenberry's voice...

Wearable hub for communications in the home [WMMNA]
Com-Badge [Siemens]

10:00:23 AM    comment   

We wouldn't normally waste an entire post to tell you that a company had added a video to their marketing page, but when that company happens to be PolymerVision, makers of actual, working rollable displays, we think a little excess is in order. (Thanks, Shamus!)

Downloads Page (Check the Bottom) [PolymerVision]

9:59:43 AM    comment   

Say what you like about the Israeli Defense Force, they know how to name a technology. The 'V-RAMBO' is a wrist-mounted TV that can receive tactical video broadcasts from drones and military vehicles to make for quick target recognition. It's sort of crazy huge, though, and has a thick video feed cable running up the arm. Just because they named it Rambo doesn't mean the technology has to be stuck in the '80s.

V-RAMBO 'Wrist Video' System Puts Real-Time Video Right on Soldiers' Wrists [DefenseReview via WristWatchReview]

9:57:39 AM    comment