You Don't Carry This Suitcase, It Carries You

Air travel is already stressful enough without having to trek long distances through what are essentially giant coach stations while dragging a bag on wheels behind you. There have been a number of attempts to relieve this situation in recent years with foldable scooters and bags that can follow its owner's Smartphone , but Olive ups the ante by combining the two with full-on robotics.

Olive is the brainchild of Iran-based I kap Robotics, and although it may look like a standard piece of luggage, it has a self-balancing auto-locomotion system that maintains stability while riding on two wheels by using 3D accelerometers and gyroscopes. With an in-built stereoscopic camera, it can build up a visual map of its surroundings and follow its owner using skeleton tracker algorithms that is claimed to allow Olive to distinguish individuals even in crowded environments.

Billed as the world's first intelligent suitcase, Olive can provide reminders, tells its owner to hurry if time is short, and has a built-in scale to warn about excess weight. If the gate is a bit far, a pair of foot rests fold out and Olive becomes a two-wheel balancing Segway-like vehicles that can carry its owner at a walking pace to the destination. Once there, the robot's battery can charge portable devices.

According to I kap, Olive connects with its owner's Smartphone or other devices using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth via an app that allows for full control. The app can locate the bag wherever it is using GPS and 3G/4G technology , and it has an automatic lock/unlock mechanism in case it's left unattended as well as provide alarms if it's disturbed. The lock also works with NFC technology, so keys are redundant.

I kap Robotics took out first place in the Service Robotics section of the 2016 Automatic Start-up World Competition held in Munich last month and the company says it is currently seeking investment and collaboration to further develop and manufacture Olive. We tried to contact the makers regarding the current state of development of Olive, its estimated price and potential availability, and will update this story if we hear back.

The video below shows Olive strutting its stuff.

 OLIVE

Quad Core Processor

A quad-core processor is a chip with four independent units called cores that read and execute central processing unit (CPU) instructions such as add, move data, and branch. Within the chip, each core operates in conjunction with other circuits such as cache, memory management, and input/output (I/O) ports.

Within the chip, each core operates in conjunction with other circuits such as cache,memory management, and input/output (I/O) ports. The individual cores in a quad-core processor can run multiple instructions at the same time, increasing the overall speed for programs compatible with parallel processing. Manufacturers typically integrate the cores onto a single semiconductor wafer, or onto multiple semiconductor wafers within a single IC(integrated circuit) package.

Although it's tempting to suppose that a quad-core processor would operate twice as fast as a dual-core processor and four times as fast as a single-core processor, things don't work out that simply. Results vary depending on the habits of the computer user, the nature of the programs being run, and the compatibility of the processor with other hardware in the system as a whole. 

Quad-core and higher multi-core processor configurations have become common for general-purpose computing, not only for PCs but for mobile devices such as smartphonesand tablets. 

See brief intro through this video:     Multi processor

Periodic Table has New Names For Four Elements

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, for Periodic table ,has announced the proposed names for elements
113:nihonium
115:moscovium
117:tennessine
118:ogenesson  
The proposed name had to follow IUPAC rules and are available for public review.
Nihonium symbol Nh, was developed by  scientists at the Japan.
Moscovium symbol Mc,is named for Moscow, which is near the joint Institute for Nuclear Research.
Tennessine symbol Ts, gets its name from state of tennessee,by Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Ogenesson symbol Og, in honour of scientist Yuri oganessian-New york ..

9 Big Announcements Google May Make

1. Google is all set to host its annual developer’s conference -- Google I/O 2016 . Scheduled to take place on May 18 to 22, the event will showcase all the cool stuff that Google's developers have been working on for the past 12 months as well as set the agenda for the rest of the year.   

      I/O 2016 will kick off with the keynote by Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Here are the major announcements Google is expected to make at this year's I/O.

      

                           

     2.    Google has already revealed some details about the next Android operating system dubbed Android N, so the OS will surely not be the main highlight of the event. But we definitely expect Google to reveal more details about the mobile OS.  Android N will add better multi-tasking support, a revamped notification panel, optimize battery life, improve native file manager, Quick Settings among other

.

     3.  Google is not launching an improved Google Cardboard rip off. The company is likely to launch a standalone virtual reality headset called Android VR.
The headset was first revealed in the preview of the latest Unreal gaming engine.
However, according to reports, Google's upcoming VR headset will not be as powerful as VR headsets from HTC and Oculus.

     4.  Google might announce its long-rumored plans to merge Chrome OS with Android. Rumors have it that Google might offer a glimpse into its Frankenstein project at Google I/O 2016.
And also, the search giant is also speculated to open its Google Play store to Chrome OS as well. This means users can access Android apps on Chrome books.

    5.   Google usually announces its offerings for YouTube at separate events, like it did with YouTube Red or YouTube Music. 
However, rumours have it that Google might launch a TV service called Unplugged at Google I/O 2016.
The new service will offer live TV channels like ESPN, Fox News among others.

     6.  Google is reportedly working on a competitor to Amazon's echo. Amazon Echo personal assistant is a wireless speaker and voice command device.
It has a 9.25-inch (23.5 cm) tall cylinder speaker with a seven-piece microphone array.
Google might include support for Ok Google and search capabilities on its Echo alternative dubbed as Chirp.

     7.   Google is expected to throw more light on its project involving modular smart phones dubbed Project Ara. Rumors have it that Google might announce a Project Ara-related device.

     8.  After Microsoft and Facebook showing interest in bots and how they will shape the future of machine and human interaction, Google is also expected to do the same. Like Microsoft announced bots for Skype, nothing stops Google too from adding bots to its Hangouts or Drive.

     9.  Google has just announced that its in-car operating system Android Auto is coming to India and 17 other countries. It is expected Google will have more to talk about Android Auto at the upcoming I/O event.
Google's Android Auto competes with Apple's in-car system CarPlay. Both CarPlay and Android Auto allow voice commands to be turned on with a touch of a steering wheel button.

Facebook announce new initiatives to improve internet services

            

After India said 'no' to Free Basics and opted for net neutrality recently, the social networking giant Facebook has unveiled two new initiatives to improve internet services for the rural population in the developing countries, including India.

Announced at its two-day annual ‘F8 conference in San Francisco, US’  The Antenna Radio Integration for Efficiency in Spectrum (ARIES) system will boost speed, efficiency and quality of internet connectivity in remote areas in the developing countries.

ARIES -- a base station with 96 antennas that can support 24 devices or streams simultaneously over the same radio spectrum -- can cover more users across large, rural areas by using multiple transmitters and receivers.
The ARIES will demonstrate a 10x spectral and energy efficiency gain over typical 4G.

By open sourcing its wireless hardware, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said
"We stand for connecting every person, for a global community, for bringing people together, for giving everyone a voice,Our lives are connected, and I hope that we have the courage to see that the path forward is to bring people together."

Facebook also launched Terragraph -- a 60GHz wireless system aimed at bringing high-speed internet to dense urban areas around the globe. Facebook is currently testing the system at its headquarters and plans to test the system soon in the city of San Jose, California.
Jay Parikh, Facebook's vice president of engineering, said that developed economies tend to be hampered by WiFi and 4G/LTE infrastructure that cannot keep up with users' consumption of photos and video at higher resolutions.

Some of the initiatives by Facebook such as optical fibre which can provide hundreds of megabits up to several gigabits of capacity but are very expensive for most countries to afford.

Apple iPhone SE

           Apple iPhone SE first impressions:

                    10 things to know

The new iPhone SE goes on sale in India starting this Friday (April 8) at a starting price of Rs 39,000 for the base model. The phone's pricing has received criticism in the Indian market, with many smartphone enthusiasts finding the price high for a small-screen phone.

                                    

For someone using a 5-inch or 5.5-inch smartphone, the iPhone SE may appear to be ridiculously small to use. They may find it difficult to type texts or read something on it. However, the 4-inch form factor may be perfect to use for older iPhone 4, 4S, 5 or 5S users.

With iPhone SE, Apple is back to its trademark iPhone design. It looks similar to the older models but is lightweight at 113 gram. The iPhone SE is available in Space Gray, Silver, Gold and Rose Gold colour options.

The display quality is as good as iPhone 6S which Apple launched last September.

The iPhone SE comes in 16- and 64GB storage formats and cannot be expandable. It runs on Apple A9 chipset with 2GB RAM. The hardware specs are similar to that of the bigger iPhone 6S.

iPhone SE comes with the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 9.3. The new update makes iOS more productive.

Sticking to Apple's promise of providing better performance in a smaller form factor, the iPhone SE is delightfully smooth. Heavy games like Asphalt 8: Airborne ran without any hiccups. For those using older iPhones, the new SE model will be an upgrade on the performance front.

The iPhone SE comes with a 12MP, f/2.2 29mm, phase detection A/F rear camera with dual LED Flash. While the camera is fast, the results are not something to boasts of, especially under low light conditions. There is support for 4K video recording too.

The 1.2MP front camera is capable of delivering decent selfies under good lighting. It comes with Retina Flash (like in iPhone 6S and 6S Plus). The front camera also supports bursts mode.

                                      

The smaller iPhone SE comes with trademark fingerprint sensor integrated with the round home button. However, there is no 3D Touch support in the new version. iPhone SE supports company's mobile wallet system Apple Pay, but has little utility in India.

                                       

Apple iPhone SE is reportedly powered by a 1,624mAh battery. The smaller screen ensures better battery life than bigger 6S models which also runs A9 chip. Apple claims up to 13 hours of LTE or Wi-Fi, and 12 hours of 3G.