Month: January 2015

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New #Nintendo3DS console launched with better 3D screen – an annotated infographic

E&T magazine

Something for the weekend, and gamers on the move, with the news that Nintendo has announced an improved version of its 3DS handheld console, featuring additional controls and some pretty snazz-ay technology to spiffy up the 3D side of things. Addressing one of the main issues with the current 3DS – namely blurred images when viewing 3D graphics – the new version makes use of a parallax barrier to correct this and keep the images sharp. Game on, boy. Click on the graphic for an expanded view. Continue reading New #Nintendo3DS console launched with better 3D screen – an annotated infographic

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#AppleWatch battery life back in the spotlight – an annotated infographic

E&T magazine

Up one day, down the next. 24 hours after the internet’s collective jaw dropped at its $18 billion profit from the last quarter of 2014, Apple today finds itself jerked back from metaphorically luxuriating on a silk mattress stuffed with $1,000 dollar bills atop a solid gold bed with a mink-covered, diamond-studded headboard to answer awkward questions about the battery life of the forthcoming Watch. Or if not actually answer, then at least studiously ignore. According to the latest guesstimated figures, the battery life of Watch is expected to be Not Very Good. Considering the most likely everyday scenario, if you were to get up in the … Continue reading #AppleWatch battery life back in the spotlight – an annotated infographic

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#Apple profits go through the roof as the #iPhone6 takes off in China – an annotated infographic

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Apple: officially not short of a few quid. The California-based, Chinese manufacturer-preferring computer giant reported first quarter profits of $18 billion – the biggest ever made by a public company. The profits were boosted by record sales of iPhones, with Apple shifting 74.5 million iPhones in the three months to December 27. It seems redundant to qualify this statement by adding that this was well ahead of most analysts’ expectations. Ironically, it’s the Chinese thinking global, buying local that has powered much of this growth, with sales up over 70 per cent in that territory. Apparently this iPhone boom equates … Continue reading #Apple profits go through the roof as the #iPhone6 takes off in China – an annotated infographic

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E&T news weekly 34 – we choose our favourite engineering and technology news stories from the week

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Friday January 23 2015   Jonathan Wilson, online managing editor Solar Impulse readies for round-the-world trip Details of the ambitious trip were unveiled this week by Solar Impulse founders and pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg. Crossing two oceans and four continents during its 35,000km journey, the elegant, dragonfly-esque, single-seater plane will take off from Abu Dhabi and make stops in multiple cities around the world including Muscat in Oman, Varanasi and Ahmedabad in India, Chongqing and Nanjing in China, and Phoenix, Arizona in the US. It will also stop in Europe and North Africa. Street lamp fully powered by wind … Continue reading E&T news weekly 34 – we choose our favourite engineering and technology news stories from the week

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#Climatechange continues to heat up planet Earth as 2014 sets new record – an annotated infographic

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As rapper, bon viveur and keen amateur climatologist (we’re guessing) Nelly once so memorably said: it’s getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes. The year 2014 has now officially been declared the warmest year across global land and ocean surfaces since records began in 1880. The annually-averaged temperature was 0.69°C above the 20th-century average of 13.9°C, breaking the previous records of 2005 and 2010 by 0.04°C . This also marks the 38th consecutive year that the yearly global temperature was above average. Deny that, climate change deniers. Either way, we’d all be well advised to keep our … Continue reading #Climatechange continues to heat up planet Earth as 2014 sets new record – an annotated infographic

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#Privacy vs #Security online – read E&T magazine’s Private special issue for the latest tech angles

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The new issue of E&T magazine is now available online: the security vs privacy issue, the big interwebs smackdown du jour, roll up, roll up, place your bets now on the big winner. Security technology is back on the agenda in the wake of the terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine. The public worries about security on the one hand, personal liberties and privacy on the other.The Prime Minister warned against encryption technology that allows truly secret communications and promised legislation, which could mean reviving the bill that protestors dubbed the ‘snooper’s charter’ and would make ISPs store all … Continue reading #Privacy vs #Security online – read E&T magazine’s Private special issue for the latest tech angles

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E&T news weekly 33 – we choose our favourite engineering and technology news stories from the week

E&T magazine

Friday January 16 2015   Jonathan Wilson, online managing editor Virtual guitar pedal board with A/B comparison launched Being a keen, if largely incompetent, guitarist with a potentially expensive lust for new effects pedals, the idea of an online A/B comparison web site that allows me to pit one pedal against another is a godsend. Over 100 pedals are already online, covering overdrive, distortion, fuzz, delay, chorus, reverb and more. With the ability to audition the exact same riff recorded through the exact same signal chain as treated by the different pedals of my choosing, comparing the sonic results is … Continue reading E&T news weekly 33 – we choose our favourite engineering and technology news stories from the week

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Saudi Arabia erects high-tech fence to keep out #ISIS terrorists – an annotated infographic

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Hadrian’s Wall, the Great Wall of China, the Berlin Wall, the US-Mexico Border Fence. Sometimes, the only way to keep undesirables in an adjacent geographical (and ideological) space from sneaking in to your own is by building a big-ass barrier. Learning this valuable home security lesson from history, Saudi Arabia has unveiled a 900km state-of-the art fence along its border with Iraq to ensure that the war waged by Islamic State extremists doesn’t spill across its frontier. The $3.4 billion Northern Border Security Project was built by Munich-based Airbus Defence and Space. Watchtowers, radars, night-vision cameras, face-recognition software, underground movement … Continue reading Saudi Arabia erects high-tech fence to keep out #ISIS terrorists – an annotated infographic

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#Beagle2 wreckage found on Mars 12 years after disappearance – an annotated infographic

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Nasa scientists may have discovered the wreckage of the UK’s pioneering Mars lander Beagle 2 on the surface of Mars in a breakthrough development more than 12 years after the spacecraft’s disappearance. The fate of Beagle 2 has been a mystery ever since the closely watched failed landing attempt on Christmas Day 2003. In a rather secretive manner, the UK Space Agency said it would release new information about the lander, a brainchild of the late British planetary scientist Professor Colin Pillinger, later this week. It’s just a shame Professor Pillinger died in May 2014. Having endured years of jokes … Continue reading #Beagle2 wreckage found on Mars 12 years after disappearance – an annotated infographic

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Floating black boxes in the spotlight as tail of Air Asia jet #QZ8501 found underwater – an annotated infographic

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Search teams looking for underwater wreckage from AirAsia flight QZ8501 last week located the tail of the aircraft where the black box flight recorders are housed. This is a crucial development in ascertaining what happened in the final moments of the plane before the crash. Without the black boxes, the job of air investigators is made considerably more difficult. When a plane crashes in to the sea – such as with flight QZ8501 and also as is presumed to have been the case in the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in March 2014 – the advantages of black box recorders … Continue reading Floating black boxes in the spotlight as tail of Air Asia jet #QZ8501 found underwater – an annotated infographic