TechConvo

Recently, developers have created a root for my phone (T-Mobile Galaxy S II) and I’ve been debating whether or not to root my phone. From what I understand there is currently no ROMs, but the stock kernel has been replaced. You can’t expect much to be developed due to the fact that the source for the phone was released earlier this week.

There isn’t much of a downside other than the fact that it voids the warranty (which is nothing new to me lol). If I have any issues with the root, I can use Odin to bring my phone back to stock. So, I guess the real issue is that I really lazy lol

Root now available for the T-Mobile Galaxy S II - http://pulse.me/s/2tyP6

Android Developer Creates Siri like app called Iris

The app is currently in the alpha stage, but fully functional. If you have an android phone, I would give this application a try and see how you like it.

techspotlight:

A new prototype can transform a notebook into a notebook computer, a wall into an interactive display, and the palm of your hand into a smart phone display. In fact, researchers at Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University say their new shoulder-mounted device, called OmniTouch, can turn any nearby surface into an ad hoc interactive touch screen. OmniTouch works by bringing together a miniature projector and an infrared depth camera, similar to the kind used in Microsoft’s Kinect game console, to create a shoulder-worn system designed to interface with mobile devices such as smart phones, says co-inventor Chris Harrison, a postgraduate researcher at Carnegie Mellon’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute in Pittsburgh and a former intern at Microsoft Research. Instead of relying on screens, buttons, or keys, the system monitors the user’s environment for any available surfaces and projects an interactive display onto one or more of them. OmniTouch does this automatically, using the depth information provided by the camera to build a 3-D model of the environment, says Harrison. The camera acquires depth information about the scene by emitting a patterned beam of infrared light and using the reflections to calculate where surfaces are in the room. This eliminates the need for external calibration markers. The system rebuilds the model dynamically as the user or the surface moves—for example, the position of a hand or the angle or orientation of a book—so the size, shape, and position of these projections match those of the improvised display surfaces, he says. OmniTouch “figures out what’s in front you and fits everything on to it.” (via Kinect Turns Any Surface Into a Touch Screen  - Technology Review)

Today at the Google / Samsung Event in Hong Kong, they just released details on the new Samsung wonder phone (Galaxy Nexus) with it’s very sweet Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS. After watching the event through a live broadcast at www.youtube.com/android, I was greatly impressed with the redesign of the Android native apps as well as it use of NFC (Near-Field Communications) technology. Below are some of my favorite changes / additions, that I believe that will make this OS a success.

Many of the native apps like Gmail and Contacts have been redesigned for simplicity. One of my favorites are the Calender app. I currently use the Calender Application on my phone religiously and I have to say it is a little clunky and no very pleasant to look at; however with the new design and added functionality, I could seem myself using the new calender instead of a third-party application. They have added pinch and zoom to the calender allowing you expand and collapse the contents of that current day as well as enhancing readability.

In addition to the redesign of apps they also put there work into improving Widget functionality. Now all widgets will be accessed easily through the app drawer under the widgets tab (which also allows you to see a preview widgets before you place it on the screen) making it easier to select widgets. Another added feature to Widget, which I feel will greatly improve the use of Widgets is the ability to resize any Widget. I don’t know about you but I feel some widgets are to big and the abilty to control thier size with a simple flick of the fingertips is a greatly welcomed improvement.

Last but not least is the revamped notification bar. Now you can view your notification bar from the lock screen, which allows you to access you notifications bar with out having unlock your phone first. I know some of you will say that it is not secure, which is true, I’m sure their is an option to turn it off.

Overall, I am really excited to see this OS in action. The SDK for ICS is available today (which I am currently downloading) and can’t wait to see what apps developers will create with this new OS. I hope my phone (Galaxy S II) gets an update to 4.0 soon, if not I may have to learn to make one myself :p

One step further into quantum computing

I really excited to see the outcome of this project. Although Niobium is used in some military application as a semiconductor, this is the first I have heard its use as a superconducting chip. There are several pros to the use of Niobium instead of silicon, which are energy consumption, overall speed capability, and it is radioactive hard (which means it can be used in areas of high radioactivity with out damaging the substance). The only downside I can foresee is that although the the chips energy consumption is low it does not take away from the energy used by the cooling systems.

T-Mobile Announces Sidekick 4G Details, Along With HSPA+ 21

21mbps!!! sold.

Source:

I’m not going to lie, the iPad 2 looks quite promising.

Intel has created a I/O technology called Thunderbolt (codename Lightpeak), which is capable of speeds up to 10Gbps and is bi-directional. As of right now, the only company that is going to support this technology is Apple, but I would not doubt that the others will follow sometime soon.

1974!!!

Samsung Vibrant

ROM - Team Whiskey’s Bionix-v 1.2.1

Kernel - KB1 with Voodoo

Modem - KB1

Other Specs - One Click Lag Fix, Galaxy Tuner (temp O.C. to 1.2Ghz)