This Might Be the Most Beautiful Keyboard Ever Made

When it comes to computer, very less attention is given to the good old as well as the humble keyboards. They are considered like the utilitarian devices which are meant for helping people to carry out their computer functions as well as let the computer know our commands.

However, if these keyboards can be turned out to become a piece of art, something people might find pleasure looking at it for being gorgeous and waiting to get their hands on it. This is the main idea behind the new Keyboardio Model 01, which is a unique keyboard and has been able to pull lots of money being on Kickstarter. A single glance at the model is enough to let you know that it is different. There are many of us, who have already seen split keyboards, but nothing can match or look this till not.

It can be considered as a simple hint that it might a good time to mix nature with our automated world and technology. The Model 01 has been given a butterfly shape in the body and has been made out of hardwood maple, which allows smooth tree rings all around the keys.

The key switches have been made mechanical and the creators of 01 made them similar to the ones which are found on the Apple II. Each Keycap has been custom sculpted but still the layout of the keyboard has been based on the QWERTY layout. But despite this all the keys swoop all over the board in waves. The description of the product looks and sounds to very poetic, it sounds like someone was trying to make the keyboard feel like a musical instrument. The Model 01 is nothing like the previous keyboards, it is dynamic. The users can keep it laying flat, split it apart, it can be raised in the center and make it look like tripod, and it suits the typing style of every person. People, who are into flair, will truly appreciate the LEDs which have been tucked under every key and that too these are programmable.

This keyboard is piece of modern art which is functional. The project has got potential and this is the reason it has managed to pull in $250,000 as backup in early phase, it has $120,000 in funding and still got 28 days left to complete the project.

Despite all the features the company has already stated that they cannot confirm that this model will be ideal for everyone since each one will have their own learning curve. Usually it might take just couple of hours to get a hang of the new keyboard but with this new keyboard it can take more than 2 months to master the keys. If time is not a constraint for people who are excited about getting this new keyboard, they can puck the Model 01 by paying around $299 in US, bout £190, AU$389 and expect the delivery by April 2016.

Samsung Galaxy: What You Need to Know About Reported Security Risk

Reports suggest that millions of owners of Samsung Galaxy Smartphone might be at risk dealing with calls eavesdropping, data theft and malware installation. Downside to this problem is the fact that no action can be taken by the owners to avoid this situation. The security flaw has been found in the Swiftkey keyboard software that has been preinstalled on nearly 600 million smartphones made by the South Korean electronics giant.

This security flaw was reported by Nowsecure, mobile security company. Since the users have no option to uninstall this software they are basically powerless and more prone to this vulnerability. According to the reports some of the devices which have been disclosed to have been affected include Galaxy S6, S5, S4 as well as S4 mini. Statement released by Samsung has suggested that they are working on releasing out a solution to this problem in the coming few day. This fix will be accessible to the uses through their Samsung Knox service. This fix will be like a security policy updated which can be downloaded and installed on the phones.

The statement of the company also indicated that they are taking any emerging security threats seriously. They are not only working on the security policy update but they are working on the Swiftkey to avoid any potential threats in the near future.

Customers are already getting upset with the increasing instances of security flaw and security breaches in terms of their data getting compromised as well as getting held by banks and retailers. Now if the same happens on the mobile device, we can understand their fury? According to the reports released by Target, nearly 40 million people has reported their credit cards to be stolen at the sale terminals and this was followed by increasing hacks on email addresses, names as well as phone numbers that affected 70 million customers. According to Nowsecure, Samsung was already informed about this problem in December 2014.

Even though Samsung has already started giving patch to their mobile network operators but they cannot confirm if the carriers are providing the same on the devices as well. According to the devices lists which have got affected, all these phones have unknown patch condition or they do not have the patch available. The phones are becoming highly vulnerable to flaws and attacks from various fronts.

For instance a small time hacker might be able to gain access to the phone by using unsecured Wi-Fi connections on the other hand and sophisticated hacker will take a professional approach to gain access through proper sources. Some of the security experts have stated that this latest attack might fetch many returns for the hackers.

They stated that users should avoid using insecure Wi-Fi networks to avoid risks, try using different types of mobile devices as well as keep updated about the patch update and timing. They stated that lots of things were not in place which can make it difficult for the hackers to extract any benefits. It looks to be very unusual path taken by people to hack into computers and devices.

Now Experience Your Sense of Touch in VR through These Gloves

As if now people have seen sensing virtual reality by means of sound as well as sight so far. Now you will be able to experience the sense of your touch in the virtual world as well. You will be able to touch any virtual objects as thanks to this new pair of gloves. This new green and black gloves have been developed by a Spain-based tech company NeuroDigital Technologies and the glove are currently being called as "Gloveone". These gloves will make you feel all the sensations like that weight as well as shape during the interaction of the user with the virtual objects.

According the reports published, the developers of the gloves are claiming that the wearer of the gloves will be able to feel the fire and the rain as well as something very ethereal like the wings of butterfly.

What is the technology all about? 

The technology has the ability to translate the touch sensation in the form of vibration and each of the pair has nearly 10 sensors which have been placed in the fingertips and the palm. Four of these sensors which have been placed in the thumb, plan, middle as well as index fingers have the ability to detect out each other. They will allow the users to grab an apple and even fire a gun.

These gloves also comprise of a 9-Axis inertial measurement unity also known as the IMU sensor and this can be easily placed under the gloves. An IMU sensor is mostly used in a manoeuvre aircraft, which has the ability to record orientation, velocity as well as gravitational forces by means of gyroscopes, accelerometers, as well as magnetometers.

When it comes to Gloveone, this sensor will be tracking the hand movements of the users within the virtual work and be able to offer more realistic experience. The company has been able to further describe the sensation behind wearing these gloves in simple words stating that it is like a realistic perceptual illusion. This means that the users will not be able to feel the actual weight of the virtual object which should be similar to that one the same object in the real life.

But the users will be able to compare the weight of the items inside the virtual world. Reports suggest that the company has finalized the prototyping the product and has been able to create a Kickstarter page that will allow them to raise finance for manufacturing the gloves.

Currently people have the option of buying the gloves as they are available in three sizes. Each of these sizes is sweat proof as well as anti-bacterial and also has been fitted with a Bluetooth wireless connection. A pair of gloves has the ability of offering the user more than four hours of overall battery life. The only downside for the customers is that they have to wait till 2016, till they will be able to enjoy any of the virtual work experience by means of this Gloveone.

Kirigami-Based Stretchable Lithium-Ion Batteries

Battery Created on Origami variant Kirigami

Researchers at the Arizona StateUniversity have developed a battery which can stretch up to around 150%, giving rise to a wide range of potential applications in wearable technology. Created on the origami variant kirigami, the team was capable of transforming a larger battery into various smaller one through chains of folds and cuts.

Associate professor Hanqing Jiang in the School of Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, one of ASU’s Ira A, Fulton Schools of Engineering, together with the researchers created the battery utilising slurries of graphite and lithium cobalt dioxide, then coating them on sheets of aluminium foil making positive and negative electrodes, from which they added bends and cuts to begin the patterns. The outcome was a battery that could stretch while still maintaining full functionality.

 The team has stated that regardless of using origami as inspiration by the engineers for foldable batteries which can flex in the past, it marks the first time that a lithium-ion battery has been made stretchable. To test the efficiency of the battery, the kirigami-driven prototype battery, was sewn in an elastic wristband that was attached to a Samsung Gear 2 smartwatch. As the strap was stretched in various ways, the battery was capable of providing power to the watch for its functions inclusive of playing video.

Replace Bulky & Rigid Batteries

Jiang had commented that `this type of battery could potentially be used to replace the bulky and rigid batteries that are limiting the development of compact wearable electronic devices and this type of stretchable batteries could be integrated into fabrics, which include those used for clothing’.In the research journal Scientific Reports, a paper was published on June 11, describing how the team had developed kirigami based lithium-ion batteries with the use of a combination of folds and cuts creating patterns which permitted a significant increase in stretch-ability.

Hongyu Yu, an associate professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering and the School of Earth and Space Exploration; Zeming Song, a material science doctoral student and Xu Wang, a mechanical engineering doctoral student, are some of the leading members of his ASU research team. Song and Wang have been praised by Jiang for utilising several kirigami patterns and for conducting experiments as well as characterising the properties of the materials that have been utilised in the development of the technology.

In-Depth View in Progress & Obstacles – Origami-Based Lithium-Ion Batteries

Others who have also made their contributions comprise of ASU engineering graduate students Change LV. Yonghao An, Mengbing Liang, Teng Ma and David He, a Pheonix high school student together with Ying-Jie Zheng and Shi-Qing Huang from the MOE Key Lab of Disaster Forecast and Control in engineering at Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.

Jiang together with some of his research team members as well as other colleagues, in an earlier paper in the research journal of Nature Communication, had provided an in-depth view in the progress and obstacles in the development of origami-based lithium-ion batteries where the paper clarified technical challenges in flexible battery progress which Jiang states that the teams’ kirigami based devices are helping to solving.

Windows 10 PC Squeezed Inside Quanta's Compute Plug

Reports suggest that a Taiwanese company has been able to create a plug like computer which is capable of running on the forthcoming version of Windows operating system (Windows 10) from Microsoft. Compute plug of Quanta has been designed in such a manner that it can be pushed directly into the wall power socket. It has an HDMI port that can be used for TV connections apart from having two USB sockets.

However we need to know that this is not the first time this kind of device has been made by any company or available in the market. A similar form of PCs was earlier promoted in 2009 by US Chipmaker Marvell. As if now, the Marvell's computers have not been able to set up a strong appeal in the market despite of targeting the device for being eco-friendly and best for use at schools and smart homes.

Fingerprint PCs

Microsoft released out details pertaining to the new Wi-Fi enables windows device on their official blog. The details indicated that the device has been designed in such a manner that it can e cable linked to any screen and turn the screen into voice-controlled portable computer. The blog also indicated that the new compute plug is like a mini PC as well as a power adaptor, which can be inserted into any outlet as well as connect with a TV and turn them into a smart computer. These can be controlled by using Bluetooth remote, Bluetooth headset and using Cortana.

Microsoft also revealed another device which was quite unusual and made by Foxconn. It is Taiwanese company who is popular for carrying out the assembling process of products of other companies. It has been currently names as Kangaroo. These devices squeezed Windows 10 powered PC in a box that pretty much looks like a portable hard disk which has been fitted with a fingerprint reader on the top of the device.

Microsoft has described this device as ultra-portable computer having the capability of turning a TV into a complete Windows 10 PC. At present no details has been released about the pricing or the specific launch date of the device. But market is expecting to get more details at the same time as that of Computex trade show. We have numerous concerns about the availability of the device.

According to Peter Bryer, CCS Insight consultant, none of the companies are out boasting about the computing power that can be achieved from these devices. People are waiting to use tiny computer and if they want, they are other products available in the market as well. Each day companies are coming forward with product creating a challenge for other companies.

From the customer’s perspective, we hope that we are able to see new designs and additional features. Today, computer are no longer categorised into being luggages but they have now transformed into tiny, short plug-in devices. One can only wait for the release of these devices to get details and reviews.