Hasta La Gadget!

Researchers over at the University of Texas in Austin have managed to show the world of magic that science, too, has the ability to churn out invisible cloaks. In fact, their latest attempt at emulating Harry Potter’s invisible cloak resulted in a new, ultra-thin cloak which measures a mere 0.15mm in thickness, now how about that? Surely this is featherlight, and Dumbledore himself would have a hard time figuring out what kind of sorcery has gone into the creation of this scientifically backed “invisibility cloak”.

No longer will the future of invisible cloaks come across as large, cumbersome, desk-mounted constructions, and this was made possible thanks to the researchers who decided to ditch traditional metamaterials in the creation of this cloak, and fashioned it out of conventional materials instead, using a 66µm-thick sheet of copper which has been attached to a 100µm-thick sheet of flexible polycarbonate. This cloak will be hooked to an object so that it conforms to that object’s shape, and the copper itself has been patterned in such a way that scattered light from the cloak and the cloaked object will cancel each other out, hence its “invisibility”.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Apple Rumored To Be Building 4K UHD TV That Could Be Released Late 2013/Early 2014, Pebble 1.9.1 Firmware Update Announced,

This year’s Battlefield series entry — Battlefield 4 — is headed to PCs this fall. The game wasn’t given other platforms, but logic dictates it’ll arrive on the PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 successor. Apparently, since only Sony’s next-gen console is a known quantity and Microsoft’s staying mum, EA isn’t sharing other platforms yet (but hey, it’s probably PlayStation 4 and the next Xbox). The game’s being built on the latest iteration of DICE’s Frostbite engine, though no other details were given about the engine just yet.

Like previous Battlefield entries, EA-owned Swedish game studio DICE is at the helm, and Battlefield 4 remains planted in current times (unlike the pseudo-future of Call of Duty‘s latest entry, Black Ops 2). A beta for the game will go live some time this fall, and folks who bought last year’s Medal of Honor: Warfighter are automatically part of said beta. We’ll have more info as EA offers it up, but color us not surprised if Battlefield 4 makes a reprise appearance at Microsoft’s still undated Xbox 360 successor unveiling.

Update: EA also released a 17-minute gameplay demo of the game’s prologue section, played on a PC. It features a squad of four soldiers on the run from Russian spec-ops militants in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku. You’ll find it just beyond the break.

Update 2: Per a listing on EA’s digital store, Battlefield 4 is headed to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in addition to the PC. PlayStation 4 is curiously missing, as is mention of Microsoft’s next-gen game console.

Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD

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A Chinese fishmonger was going about his business when he randomly discovered a bomb… inside the stomach of a squid he was gutting. Apparently, a three-pound squid had swallowed an eight-inch bomb on accident. The bomb was live. More »

Now here is a concept design by Wan Fu Chun that is known as the Puzzle Keyboard, where it will adopt a modular approach when it comes to typing. I guess you can call this a custom keyboard which will fit right into your needs, after all, we are all created differently, and hence, have very different typing styles from one another. Assuming there are a bunch of keys that never feel the touch of your fingertips after all these years, all you need to do is remove them from sight to minimize the entire keyboard. Not only does it simplify the layout, it also helps you make better use of space.

Sounds as though a modular keyboard might catch on, but considering how the extra keys do not create any trouble of sorts even when they are on the keyboard itself, it might not be able to sell too well. After all, there is a learning curve to get used to with a modular keyboard, and sometimes, your brain might just miss the familiar sights of the likes of F6 and F7 keys, in addition to either left or right Shift and Control keys.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: iPhone 6 Concept Looks Pretty Interesting, iOS 7 App Switcher Concept Looks Useful,

It hasn’t even been a month, and reports are already coming in that North Korea has cut its visitor-only 3G Internet connection, which went live the beginning of March. It seems those with a smartphone, which is still allowed in the country following the recently changed laws, can still make international phone calls (except to South Korea), but can no longer share content or access the Internet via a mobile data connection.

Originally, visitors to North Korea could purchase a SIM card from Koryolink from either the airport or a Koryolink retail store. Despite the very high rates for data, which are reported to be 150 Euros per 2GB, images from within the nation began to hit Instagram and other social networks within days, such as the one featured above. The videos and images sparked quite a bit of international attention, as was expected.

Perhaps the quantity of content being published by visitors spooked North Korea, because it hasn’t even been a month, and the mobile broadband connection has already been taken down. Nothing official was said about the change, and it is possible the change is only temporary, prompted by some government tweaking or perhaps a technical issue. Only time will tell if it goes back up or not.

Word has it that long-term visitors can still access the mobile network, and if that is the case, it would seem the move was intentional, and that short-term visitors are out of luck. The SIM cards can still be purcahsed from the airport and retail stores for about $70 USD, and international phone calls will cost visitors about 5 Euros per minute, which isn’t too bad, but still a substantial price tag.

[via North Korea Tech]
Image via Joseph Ferris III

North Korea takes down mobile Internet connection for visitors is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
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