Cool new and future tech [in pictures]

Apple Tablet

OpenFrame Home Phone Communication System by OpenPeak

Nokia Aeon

2009 KTM X-Bow

Apple refreshes MacBook Pro, adds Thunderbolt aka Light Peak

Today Intel is scheduled to announce their new innovative Light Peak data transfer technology which is said to offer transfer rates 25 times faster than USB 2.0. It is also no incident that Apple chose to refresh their MacBook Pro lineup at the same time by adding the new Light Peak port re-branded as Thunderbolt.

Currently Light Peak transmits data at 10 gigabits per second. However, Intel says the new technology could be ramped up in the future to support up to 100 gigabits per second, which would be 250 times faster than USB 2.0. Light Peak also offers greater flexibility as it can employ both copper wires and fiber optics. It also makes it possible to combine Light Peak, USB and FireWire into one single cable of much greater length.

Thunderbolt features:
- Dual-channel 10 Gbps per port
- Bi-directional
- Dual-protocol (PCI Express and DisplayPort)
- Compatible with existing DisplayPort devices
- Daisy-chained devices
- Electrical or optical cables
- Low latency with highly accurate time synchronization
- Uses native protocol software drivers
- Power over cable for bus-powered devices

Intel is hoping to establish its new connectivity standard and it has partnered with Apple to drive the early adoption. This is not unlike 1998 when Apple helped push the USB standard by making it the only port on the first iMac.

In addition to the new Thunderbolt port Apple has made other important upgrades to its MacBook Pro line. Apple finally embraced the Intel Core i7 quad-core processor and blessed its 15 and 17 inch Pros with it, while the 13 inch now sports a dual-core i5 or i7. This should make all three versions twice as fast as the one they replace. It is about time Apple embraced quad-core processors in their notebooks as the competition has been offering quad-core laptops for quite some time now. The 15 and 17 inch MacBook Pro models also get the new refreshed high-performance AMD Radeon graphics processors, which boost graphics performance up to 3x times. To further compliment the new more powerful graphics Apple also added the new FaceTime HD camera, which makes full-screen HD video calls 3x times crispier.

MacBook Pro - new features at a glance

[Wikipedia]

Drobo - your friendly data storage Robot

Drobo 4-bay 2nd generation

Have you been looking for an easy to use redundant and secure storage solution for your home or small office? Hold on to your butts because we have just what you have been looking for. Introducing Drobo - your personal friendly data storage robot. Designed and built by Data Robotics in Santa Clara, California... Let's cut to the chase. There aren't enough good things we can say about Drobo but when asked to describe it these are the words that come to mind:

- user friendly & easy to use
- redundant & secure storage
- expandable capacity
- mix and match drives
- file & operating system agnostic
- no software or drivers needed

Drobo S 5-bay 2nd generation

Just to give you an idea of how easy it is to use Drobo... First, insert two or more drives of any capacity and speed into any of the bays in your Drobo. It takes two drives to protect your data from a drive failure. Plug-in your Drobo into any computer and the rest is just like using any other external hard drive or flash storage device. Drobo takes care of the rest and automatically protects all your data from drive failure. When you are ready to add more storage to your storage array just insert a new drive or replace an existing drive with a larger capacity one and enjoy the rest of your day because your work is done. Since the drives are hot-swappable you can add or remove a drive on-the-fly at any time. It's that easy!

Of course there are many different Drobo models offered these days(originally there was just one) including an entire line of Enterprise grade units but the following are best suited for home and small offices:

Drobo for home and small office comparison chart

Feel free to check out the entire Drobo lineup at the official product web site.

Technical specifications:
- 4 bay capacity for Drobo, 5 bay capacity for Drobo S and Drobo FS
- 4 bay unit protects from one failed drive, 5 bay unit protects from up to two failed drives
- utilizes 3.5" SATA I or SATA II hard disk drives
- mix and match drive capacities, disk brands and speeds
- FireWire 800, High Speed USB 2.0 (Drobo, Drobo S)
- eSATA, USB 3.0 (S)
- Seamless Integration with Apple Time Machine (FS)
- 10/100/1000 Ethernet Port (FS)
- supported network data transfer protocols: AFP and CIFS/SMB (FS)
- supports NTFS, HFS+, FAT32, EXT3 file systems
- supports Windows 2003 Server, XP, Vista, 7, Mac OS X 10.4+ operating systems (Drobo)
- supports Windows 2008 Server, 2003 Server, XP, Vista, 7, Mac OS 10.5+, Linux operating systems (S, FS)
- power consumption: idle system = 5 watts, busy system = 40 watts (Drobo)
- power consumption: idle system = 12 watts, busy system = 56 watts (S, FS)
- noise level: normal operation: 20.9 - 24.2 dB (Drobo)
- noise level: normal operation: 31.8 dB (S, FS)

Features at a glance:

Daft Punk

Daft Punk

Enjoy Daft Punk - French electronic [robotic] duo. In case you were not aware, perhaps the most prominent feature of Daft Punk are their cool looking robot suites and a tall pyramid a top which they perform. All in all these guys really know how to put together one entertaining live show. Check out their impressive pyramid and the gear it packs below.

Origin: Paris, France
Members: Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Thomas Bangalter
Genres: house, synthpop
Years active: 1993 - present

Daft Punk's Pyramid

Daft Punk Pyramid - impressive display of graphics

Inside Daft Punk's Pyramid:

[1] ABLETON
“The show revolves around Ableton Live software on custom made super-computers, which we remotely access and control with Behringer BCR2000 midi controllers.”

[2] SCREENS
“Next to the ethernet remote computer screens there are four Minimoog Voyagers, the classic analog synthesizers. They’re a 30-year old design.”

[3] MOOGS
“We can mix, shuffle, trigger loops, filter, distort samples, EQ in and out, transpose or destroy and deconstruct synth lines. We keep some surprises on the side too!”

[4] VISUALS
“There’s a direct connection between our rig and the lights and visuals of the show. The light and video engineers can also add or control layers during the show.”

[5] SYNTHS
“Inside the pyramid are synthesizers and remote controls connected to the rest of the music equipment and computers, which are in rack-mounted towers off stage.”

[6] TEAMWORK
“Working the music equipment, lighting and video equipment, and building the pyramid for each show takes around 10 people, including both of us.”
[Courtesy of Mixmag]


Bestselling CDs:


Websites:
daftalive.com
daftpunk.com
myspace
wikipedia

You may also like:
Röyksopp
Underworld
Simian Mobile Disco

Underworld

Underworld

Enjoy Underworld - one of the best British electronic groups.

Origin: Romford, UK
Members: Karl Hyde, Rick Smith
Genres: electronic, techno, progressive house, progressive trance, alternative dance
Years active: 1980 - present

Bestselling CDs:


Websites:
underworldlive.com
myspace
wikipedia

You may also like:
Röyksopp
Daft Punk
Simian Mobile Disco

Röyksopp

Röyksopp

Enjoy Röyksopp - an awesome Norwegian electronica band.

Origin: Tromsø, Norway
Members: Svein Berge, Torbjørn Brundtland
Genres: trip hop, downbeat, dance, electronica
Years active: 1998 - present

Bestselling CDs:


Websites:
royksopp.com
myspace
wikipedia

You may also like:
Daft Punk
Underworld
Simian Mobile Disco

Apple iPhone 5 rumors compilation

Apple iPhone 5 prototype features

There are a lot of iPhone 5 rumors floating out there. Some of them suggest another complete re-design from the ground up and a significant hardware upgrade all around. We can only hope those rumors are true. Below is a compilation of the iPhone 5 rumors we think are likely to meet the Apple's next generation handset. Also enjoy a few teaser pics. [Engadget]

Apple iPhone Pro prototype

- Release date around June or July
- New better antenna design
- Apple's AirPlay technology to share content between different screens
- Apple's new A5 dual-core processor (based on Cortex A9 design)
- New SGX543MP2 dual-core graphics chip (offers about four times the processing power at the same clock speed as compared to the current SGX535 chip)
- New graphics supports OpenCL (used to offload general purpose computing tasks to the GPU)
- New Qualcomm mobile chipset (supports three networks: CDMA, GSM and UMTS)
- Available on both AT&T and Verizon networks
- Likely to see a bump up in memory
- Even more storage
- Small increase in screen size (3.7-inch instead of 3.5)
- Upgraded 8-megapixel 1080p video recording cameras (to compliment the newly upgraded graphics processor)
- Possibly 4G capable
- HDMI-out (to TV)
- Near-Field Communication(NFC) technology would turn iPhone into a proximity credit card - just wave it over a terminal
- Ability to watch live over-the-air digital TV
- An integrated pico projector (for sharing small screen with others)
- Conceivably increased battery life

Apple iPhone 5 prototype edgy unibody

Apple iPhone 5 prototype slim

Apple iPhone 5 prototype blacked-out

Apple iPhone 5 Near Field Communication (NFC) diagram

Related posts:
For more iPhone 5 rumors and mockups visit More iPhone 5 rumors and evidence leaked.
For a slew of iPhone 5 concept pictures visit Apple iPhone 5 concept picture gallery.

Internet is running out of IP addresses...but don't panic!

It's time to update your calendars: the world IPv6 Day will start on June 8!

IPv4 vs IPv6 protocol comparison

The internet as we know it is running out of available IP addresses. The current IPv4 web protocol only provides about four billion unique web address and with almost seven billion people on the planet that means not everyone can even have their own IP address not to mention having multiple internet enabled devices. This is where the new IPv6 standard comes to the rescue. Unlike its 32-bit predecessor the new 128-bit IPv6 format allows for trillions of Internet addresses which will support a virtually unlimited number of devices.

IPv4 address utilization in 2000 vs 2010

And what if we do not embrace the new Internet standard? Well, there is no need to panic. According to a Google network engineer tasked with transitioning the Internet giant to the new IPv6 standard: "The Internet won't stop working; it will just slowly degrade," and with time "things will get slower and flakier."