Hasta La Gadget!

Despite the looming threat of being replaced by phase-change memory, contemporary memory modules aren’t quite ready to be shown the door — engineers at Macronix have found a way to revive spent NAND flash cells. Most flash modules fail after being written to and erased about 10,000 times, but Macronix found that the tired memory could be restored by baking it for extended periods of time. The team funneled the time consuming and cumbersome solution into a more practical package: a redesigned memory chip that packs onboard heaters. The new modules are designed to periodically heat focused groups of memory cells to 800 °C (1,472 °F) for a few milliseconds, effectively “healing” worn cells.

Researchers found that heated chips could tolerate more than 100 million write/erase cycles and erased faster at higher temperatures. The team said the power drain of the heaters shouldn’t effect battery life, either — chips don’t have to be heated often, and when they do, it can be done while prospective devices are recharging. Macronix will be presenting the technology at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting next week, but project deputy director Hans-Ting Lue wouldn’t say when the company plans on taking the technology to market. Lue was willing to speculate on what might become of it, however. “This may evolve into a ‘thermally assisted’ mode of operation that gives both better performance — such as the faster erasing — and better endurance flash memory.” Faster, more reliable, super-heated memory. Sounds fine by us.

[Image credit: Emily Cooper, IEEE]

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Via: PhysOrg

Source: IEEE

This week Inhabitat reported live from the Los Angeles Auto Show as we brought you the hottest new green cars — beginning with the 2013 Fiat 500e electric vehicle. We’re also eagerly awaiting the unveiling of BMW’s new i3 Coupe concept. In other green transportation news, JR Tokai unveiled Japan’s new lightning-fast 310 MPH MagLev train, while Amtrak announced that trains traveling between Chicago and St. Louis were cleared to accelerate to 110 MPH on a short stretch of track. It’s no MagLev, but we’ll take it! Designer Jeffrey Eyster also unveiled the MRV-1, a recreational vehicle that doubles as a sustainable nature retreat.

Continue reading Inhabitat’s Week in Green: vertical farm, solar energy funnel and a brainwave monitor

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Google has just snapped up BufferBox, a Waterloo, Ontario-based startup that offers temporary lockers for online purchases much like the ones recently deployed by Amazon. Instead of 7-Elevens and RadioShacks however, the relatively young startup has only just started a deal to install parcel kiosks in Canada’s Metrolinx GO Transit stations. The Mountain View company hopes to keep BufferBox alive through the acquisition, with plans for 100 kiosks in Greater Toronto and Hamilton in the next year. Of course, we can’t help but think this could all be part of Google’s master plan for a rumored same-day delivery service that might make Amazon a touch nervous. Hopefully this means future Nexus deliveries will be a just little faster, eh?

Filed under: Misc, Internet, Google

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Source: Financial Post, BufferBox

It’s no secret that Rahul Sood, who now runs Microsoft’s Bing Fund, feels a twinge of bitterness towards his previous employer. Having worked for HP until 2010, and having endowed it with the Envy sub-brand, he’s since been forced to watch from the sidelines while the mothership floundered. But it’s not the u-turns or bad investments that have jerked Sood’s chain this time — it’s actually the slightly awkward (and potentially emotional) branding of a model in HP’s desktop range. After seeing details of the product pop up online, he tweeted:

“Thought I’d seen everything… then I saw the ‘HP ENVY H8’ desktop… what the heck guys? Is this code for I give up?”

Tom’s Hardware reached out to Sood for an explanation and got a carefully-worded response in which he implied that HP has become preoccupied with the “logo on the box” at the expense of “culture” and “community.” Meanwhile, the old Pavilion h8 has somehow slipped by unnoticed.

Filed under: Misc, Laptops, HP

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Source: Tom’s Hardware, @rahulsood (Twitter)

The quest to create a tricorder began many years ago, when such a device was but a figment of Gene Roddenberry’s vivid imagination. However, his vision has crept ever closer to reality in recent years, with many researchers crafting devices capable of gathering human health data and the creation of an X Prize competition to spur further tricorder development.

Scanadu is a company that’s answered the X Prize bell and is aiming to bring just such a device to market by late next year for a mere $150. Called Scout, the tricorder is roughly two inches square and a half an inch thick and packs a rechargeable battery, IR , EEG and EKG scanners, plus an accelerometer, Bluetooth radio and a micro-USB port. That hardware, when combined with Scout’s companion smartphone app can track a person’s heart rate, breathing rate, body temperature, pulse transit (essentially systolic blood pressure) and blood oxygenation.

To gather that data, users first must download the free Scout app and pair the tricorder hardware with their Android, iOS or BB7 handset via Bluetooth. Then it’s simply a matter of pinching the device between their thumb and finger and holding it against their temple for ten seconds while the app takes the necessary readings. From there, the app can track your data over the long haul and provide an accurate picture of your health. We had a chance to see functional and production Scout prototypes and to speak with Scanadu CEO Walter De Brouwer and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Alan Greene about Scout’s development, so join us after the break for more.

Continue reading Scanadu’s Scout tricorder and companion app detect what ails you, arrive in 2013 for $150

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