feed info
13,779 articles from Technology Review Feed - Tech Review Top Stories
Amazon’s Appstore Suggests the Fire Is Blowing Up
Amazon’s Appstore might not always get the most attention, but it’s actually performing quite well in the application industry.Everyone knows about Apple’s iOS and the Google Play store, but there’s another application marketplace that’s growing extremely quickly.
natural gas exports report
But if the Obama administration approves exports, it might hurt manufacturing and chemical production in the U.S.The U.S. Department of Energy released a long awaited report that estimates the economic impact of allowing natural gas exports. It concluded that while exporting natural gas could marginally increase electricity prices and lead to lower wages, in total the economic benefit of selling...
Made in USA: Your Mac?
That soon could be true, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook.When Apple makes headlines for its manufacturing practices, it’s rarely a headline that makes Cupertino look good. The company has come under fire in the past year for its reliance on the manufacturing giant Foxconn, which had a string of suicides at one of its plants, and where there have occasionally been reports of unsafe working...
Ultrathin Layers of Platinum Could Help Make Hydrogen Cars Affordable
A fast and easy way to deposit platinum could reduce the amount of the precious metal needed for fuel cells.One potential use for the abundance of natural gas discovered in shale deposits across the United States—and potentially in other countries around the world—could be producing hydrogen for fuel-cell vehicles.
Apple Data Center Does Fuel Cell Industry a Huge Favor
Apple doubles the size of the fuel cell at its new data center, a potential new energy model for the cloud computing.Apple is doubling the size its fuel cell installation at its new North Carolina data center, making it a proving ground for large-scale on-site energy at data centers.
Android Takes Off in China, But Google Has Little to Show for It
Google closed its Chinese search service three years ago, just as the mobile market exploded. Now it may be realizing the price.As China edges past the U.S. as the world’s largest smartphone market, the rise of the Android mobile operating system should be a huge success story for Google, which developed and maintains Android. In China, cheaper Android devices have exploded past Apple’s phones...
Curiosity’s Child
Looking forward to a new Mars rover.NASA has its sights on Mars, as the recent landing of the rover Curiosity has already made vibrantly clear (see “Photo Essay: Curiosity’s Mission to Mars”). NASA announced that the “robust Mars exploration program” to which the Obama administration has committed now will include another robotic science rover–Curiosity’s child, call it–that will...
NASA Announces Curiosity’s Child
Looking forward to a new Mars rover.NASA has its sights on Mars, as the recent landing of the rover Curiosity has already made vibrantly clear (see “Photo Essay: Curiosity’s Mission to Mars”). NASA announced that the “robust Mars exploration program” to which the Obama administration has committed now will include another robotic science rover–Curiosity’s child, call it–that will...
A Ticket to the Moon: Yours for Just $1.5 Billion
Several ex-NASA officials are behind a company that plans to offer trips by 2020.In 1961, President Kennedy said mankind would go to the moon. Eight years later we did. Would you believe a company that said the same thing?
Company May Offer Private Expeditions to the Moon
Several ex-NASA officials think it’s doable by 2020.In 1961, President Kennedy said mankind would go to the moon. Eight years later we did. Would you believe a company that said the same thing?
Two Tickets to the Moon: Yours for Just $1.5 Billion
Several ex-NASA officials are behind a company that plans to offer trips by 2020.In 1961, President Kennedy said mankind would go to the moon. Eight years later we did. Would you believe a company that said the same thing?
Android, Windows Be Damned: The Tablet Market Isn’t Changing
Despite huge growth and Windows making a comeback, the tablet market really won’t change all that much in the coming years.The tablet market is poised for major growth in the coming years, but don’t expect the companies competing in that market to see their positions change all that much.
WEDNESDAY 5. DECEMBER 2012
Google Now Gets More Travel-Friendly For the Holidays
The intuitive Android assistant adds boarding passes, song ID feature.
Get Ready for Ads that Follow You from One Device to the Next
A former Google advertising scientist is behind a service that matches people across devices to serve more targeted advertisements, while promising to protect their privacy.Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan calls herself an “advertising quant.” Most people with a PhD in her field of information theory are recruited onto Wall Street if they decide to leave the halls of academia, she says.
Plexxi Reinvents Data Center Networking
Plexxi joins the hot software-defined networking area with control system and switches to virtualize networking and clear bottlenecks in the cloud.Deep in the recesses of the “cloud,” there’s a terrible waste of human and computing energy going on, says David Husak, the CEO and founder of networking startup Plexxi.
Is Microsoft Really A Hardware Company Now?
The company has made billions on software. But Steve Ballmer says its future is hardware.Speaking last week before shareholders, Ballmer said that as his company looks to the future, it needs to acknowledge that “getting the innovation right across the seam of hardware and software is difficult unless you do both of them.”
The Rise of Voice Biometrics for Mobile Phones
Voice biometrics is the obvious choice for authentication over a mobile phone. And now researchers say they’ve found a way to overcome its usual limitations
Custom Chips Could Be the Shovels in a Bitcoin Gold Rush
Devotees of the digital currency are ratcheting up their technology in a race to generate new coins.The digital “crypto-currency” Bitcoin surged into the public eye last year, tantalizing enthusiasts with the promise of money unfettered by any government before falling victim to digital heists (see “Crypto-currency Security under Scrutiny”) and short media attention...
Solar Startup Silevo Scales Up, Even as Others Shut Down
The company thinks its novel solar technology can take on competitors in China.The global solar panel industry is struggling—major manufacturers have posted continued losses this quarter, mainly due to a saturated market that’s left them unable to charge enough for their panels. But one startup, Fremont, California-based Silevo, is bucking the trend of plant closures and bankruptcies by...
Fracking Helps U.S. Crude Production Rises to Highest Point Since 1998
Government numbers reveal a steep increase in monthly production over the past year.The United States produced an average of 6.5 million barrels of crude oil per day in September—the largest monthly average since January 1998, according to the Energy Information Administration. As shown in the chart below, the monthly average has risen by about a million barrels per day since July of of last...
TUESDAY 4. DECEMBER 2012
The Internet’s Future Depends on Maintaining Its Free Spirit
Regulation of the Internet goes against the principles that have made it a such a phenomenal success.A great deal has happened in the 50 years since J.C.R. Licklider wrote his famous “Inter-Galactic Network” memo—the first conception of what eventually became the Internet—in April...
How Technology Can Reduce Firefighter Injuries
Advances from an unlikely place–Cornell’s clothing researchers.Being a firefighter sounds like a tough job–for obvious reasons, right? You put your life on the line–a building might collapse on you, or you might be engulfed in flames, or inhale a lethal dose of smoke. And doubtless, these things happen, and firefighters are real heroes for risking them. In fact, though, the most common...
Eye on Dubai: Predictions on U.N. Internet Regulations
Substantive issues are on the table, but little change may come from U.N. gatheringAfrican nations will win treaty language on the need for better Internet connectivity—but no funding mechanism to help get it done. Middle East representatives will argue pointlessly about Palestine. And as 193 national representatives in Dubai weigh whether the U.N. should regulate the Internet,...
The Changing Face of Security: Android Overtakes Windows As Top Threat
A report shows that a higher percentage of Android devices are targeted by hackers than Windows machines.Windows might still suffer from a host of security woes, and cybercriminals are constantly attacking Microsoft’s operating system, but looking ahead, it won’t stand atop all others.
Solar Manufacturer Morgue Adds More
Thin film solar companies Global Solar and Ampulse are reported to shut down, the latest victims of a solar glut.For solar industry watchers, this week brings another remind of how me-too technology will eventually wither away.