Extreme Tech- Electronics

Electronics

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  Full duplex: A fundamental radio tech breakthrough that could double throughput, alleviate the spectrum crunch August 5, 2014 at 1:45 pm

  The common wisdom goes that we’re reaching the limits of what is possible with RF, given the technological constraints that are generally accepted in RF-based technology. But what if one of those constraints was blown away?
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  Could Microsoft upgrade the Xbox One’s hardware to fix the PS4 performance gap? August 5, 2014 at 12:05 pm

  As you are well aware, there is a sizable gap between the hardware specifications of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. But who says this will always be the case? It’s not unusual for a console to be tweaked or upgraded multiple times throughout its lifetime as new (cheaper) hardware becomes available. Because both consoles use fairly standard PC hardware, could Sony or Microsoft upgrade their consoles to close (or widen) the current performance gap?
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  Elon Musk warns us that human-level AI is ‘potentially more dangerous than nukes’ August 4, 2014 at 8:39 am

  Elon Musk, the mastermind behind SpaceX and Tesla, believes that artificial intelligence is “potentially more dangerous than nukes,” imploring all of humankind “to be super careful with AI,” unless we want the ultimate fate of humanity to closely resemble Judgment Day from Terminator. Personally I think Musk is being a little hyperbolic — after all, we’ve survived more than 60 years of the threat of thermonuclear mutually assured destruction — but still, it’s worth considering Musk’s words in greater detail.
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  High-efficiency spray-on solar power tech can turn any surface into a cheap solar cell August 2, 2014 at 9:02 am

  Perovskite might be our best chance at cheap, efficient solar panels in the near future, and now scientists have figured out how to essentially spray paint solar cells with it.
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  What’s it like to unbox a supercomputer? Surprisingly, just like unboxing a normal PC August 1, 2014 at 1:37 pm

  I don’t know about you, but unboxing new gadgets gets me pretty excited. For me, it’s knowing that soon — very soon now, after I cut through the bubble wrap or peel back the protective plastic — the device will burst into life for the very first time. If I’m honest, it actually makes me feel like Frankenstein breathing life into his monster for the first time — especially when I unbox a bunch of components and build them into a new PC. What, then, must it feel like to unbox a brand new petascale supercomputer?
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  Movidius, the chip maker behind Google’s Tango, wants to be the king of computational photography August 1, 2014 at 10:09 am

  Already the heart of Google’s Project Tango, Movidius is upping the stakes with a 20x more efficient chip — the Myriad 2.
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  New indoor positioning system lets you do Batman-like echolocation on your phone July 31, 2014 at 1:27 pm

  Echolocation has worked helped bats navigate for millions of years, and now Berkeley researchers think your laptop could do it too.
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  Massive, undetectable security flaw found in USB: It’s time to get your PS/2 keyboard out of the cupboard July 31, 2014 at 11:38 am

  Security researchers have found a fundamental flaw that affects almost every USB device. This flaw is so serious that, now that it has been revealed, you probably shouldn’t plug a USB device into your computer ever again. There are no known effective defenses against this variety of USB attack. The USB IF itself notes that your only defense against this new attack vector is to only use USB devices that you 100% trust — but even then, as we’ll outline below, this won’t always protect you.
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  The secret world of power generation, and the arrival of Earth-spanning super grids July 30, 2014 at 12:37 pm

  A long, long time ago — well, the middle of the 1800s to be exact — electricity was an intriguing but mostly useless thing. Some factories and residences toyed with early electric lights and motors powered by on-site generators, but most of the world used piped steam and natural gas to heat their homes and drive their machines for decades after electrification began. That would all change, however, with Nikola Tesla’s invention of three-phase high-voltage power distribution at the end of the 1800s and the creation of the world’s first synchronized national electricity grid in Great Britain in 1938.
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  Microsoft announces Sharks Cove mini PC, a powerful, expensive rival to Raspberry Pi July 30, 2014 at 11:11 am

  Though it takes Microsoft a while to jump in on an emerging trend, the company does tend to throw its hat into the ring eventually. Despite releasing satisfactory hardware, the company was late to both the modern-day smartphone and tablet scene, hindering its success. This time around — likely thanks to the success of the Raspberry Pi — Microsoft is targeting the mini PC market with the announcement of Sharks Cove.

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