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Apr 15, 2016

Apple files patent for haptic touch laptop keyboard

Posted by in categories: computing, futurism

A new patent filed by Apple could offer a glimpse into the future of MacBook design, and it would be a much less tactile experience. The patent for a “Configurable Force-Sensitive Input Structure for Electronic Devices” was filed in September 2014 and was made available to the public last week. It describes a haptic-powered touch keyboard for devices like laptops. Such a device wouldn’t have any physical key switches, just a touch-sensitive layer with virtual keys.

The system would essentially consist of a large metal contact layer with the ability to sense not just touches, but the amount of force applied — 3D Touch, basically. The user would tap a key, which is really just a configurable area of the surface, and they get a haptic jolt to simulate pressing a key. The array of keys on the virtual keyboard would be marked by a light guide shining up from underneath.

Apple files patents on plenty of things that never see the light of day, but this seems like something it might want to use. Of course, that assumes it can get anywhere close to a real typing experience in terms of speed and accuracy. The company is constantly trying to slim down its MacBooks, to the point that it went all-in with USB Type-C on the latest MacBook Air. The keyboard is one of the thickest single components of the device now. If the physical keys could be done away with, the computer could approach tablet levels of thinness.

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Apr 15, 2016

World’s Smallest Pacemaker

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

FDA approves the world’s smallest artificial cardiac pacemaker.

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Apr 15, 2016

Mercedes Self Driving Car Real Roads Demo Full Journey 2015 Video Driverless S Class W222 CARJAM TV

Posted by in categories: computing, robotics/AI, transportation

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Apr 15, 2016

Graphene is both transparent and opaque to radiation

Posted by in categories: internet, materials

A microchip that filters out unwanted radiation with the help of graphene has been developed by scientists from the EPFL and tested by researchers of the University of Geneva (UNIGE). The invention could be used in future devices to transmit wireless data ten times faster.

EPFL and UNIGE scientists have developed a using graphene that could help wireless telecommunications share data at a rate that is ten times faster than currently possible. The results are published today in Nature Communications.

“Our graphene based microchip is an essential building block for faster wireless telecommunications in frequency bands that current mobile devices cannot access,” says EPFL scientist Michele Tamagnone.

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Apr 14, 2016

Space stations for tourists could be here as soon as 2020

Posted by in category: space

Space hotels could become a thing in just a few years.

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Apr 14, 2016

Light-Speed Computers? Discovery of a New Platinum-Tin Metal Could Make Them So

Posted by in categories: computing, innovation

The breakthrough could change gadgets for good.

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Apr 14, 2016

Flexible Sheet Camera Captures Images (Selfies) No Matter How You Bend It

Posted by in category: electronics

The applications for a bendable lens are endless.

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Apr 14, 2016

James Cameron confirms he is making four Avatar sequels

Posted by in category: entertainment

We’d already heard rumors that James Cameron had found three sequels a little limiting for his Avatar follow-ups, and on stage at CinemaCon today he made it official. The filmmaker announced that no less than four new sequels to his 3D epic are in the works, with the first hitting theaters in 2018.

The filmmaker discussed the many ways in which he is expanding the world — a theme park with Disney in in the works, and his company has signed a deal with Dark Horse Comics for graphic novel spin-offs — but the movies themselves are obviously the biggest component. The Avatar sequels have been a moving target since he first announced he was working on them, and Cameron has since assembled what amounts to a screenwriting superteam to break the story for the various films. As it stands, the second film in the series will be coming out in the holiday season of 2018, with the subsequent films arriving in 2020, 2022, and 2023.

“It’s going to be a true epic saga that’s told in this rich and complex world,” Cameron assured the theater owners, while also taking the moment on stage to voice his support for exclusive theatrical windows for movie releases — a hot topic at this year’s show thanks to the recent emergence of Sean Parker’s The Screening Room initiative, which would allow audiences to rent first-run movies from their living room. As Cameron framed it, technology threatening movie theaters was nothing new. “There’s always been some kind of threat to the theater-going experience,” he said, “but we’ve always answered that threat in the same way. By being great, and showmanship.”

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Apr 14, 2016

Someone’s made an actual, working hoverboard

Posted by in category: transportation

Introducing… the ZR Flyboard.

http://huff.to/1ShkQce

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Apr 14, 2016

Carbyne: Scientists create ‘holy grail’ strongest material in the world that’s tougher than graphene

Posted by in category: materials

Elusive ‘wonder material’ takes graphene’s title as the strongest substance ever made.

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