New artificial muscle promises super strength

(Credit: Warner Bros.) We have seen robots destruct and conquer in movies, but we never thought that would come close to happening in the real world. After all, we have only seen them being built for humanly tasks such aspainting and, well, vomiting. But researchers at the University of California (UC), Berkeley have developed a micro-sized robotic muscle, which is 1,000 times stronger than a human muscle. A material called vanadium...

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Apple's Big Plans For 2014

Now that the holiday’s are over and 2014 is almost here, Apple is eager to jump into the new year. Between statements made by Apple’s CEO Tim Cook as well as rumors suggesting that a larger iPad is on the way, 2014 is already looking as though it will be a huge year for the Cupertino-based tech giant. We have a lot to look forward to in 2014, including some big plans that we think customers are going to love. I am extremely proud to stand alongside...

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MetaPro AR is the cooler, better-looking version of Google Glass

Cool isn’t one of the words usually associated with wearable tech but Meta wants to change all that. The company is on a mission to bring the “Tony Stark” dream alive with a new pair of aviator-style augmented reality sunglasses called MetaPro. The smart sunglasses are not only the most fashionable we have seen in the wearable tech space, but they also promise to pack a computing punch. Unlike Glass, which has been primarily...

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The big picture: LG, Samsung to unveil 105-inch Ultra HDTVs

LG LG 105UB9 Ultra HDTV The "next big thing" is no exaggeration when it comes to describing the latest TVs from LG and Samsung. The two electronics giants are introducing mammoth Ultra HDTVs— as in 105 inches — for the consumer market next year. On Wednesday, LG revealed in a press release its first 2014 model television — a 105-inch (diagonal) curved Ultra HDTV. Unlike LG’s 55-inch curved OLED, this giant TV will use an LED-lit LCD panel....

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New House bill seeks to ban in-flight cell phone calls

Chairman of the House transportation committee says airplanes are noisy enough without people talking away the flight on their phones. (Credit: JetBlue) Flights are noisy enough for at least one lawmaker without having to listen to a plane full of passengers shouting to be heard on their cell phones. So Rep. Bill Shuster, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, introduced a bill Monday that would prohibit passengers...

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The next USB plug will finally be reversible

Work has begun on a new generation of USB that will break compatibility with existing connectors in order to improve ease of use and allow for thinner devices. The new connector, called Type-C, is an addition to the existing USB 3.1 specification and is expected to be finalized by the middle of 2014. There aren't any images available yet, but Type-C will be around the size of a Micro USB plug and, like Apple's Lightning connector, will finally be...

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Your Future Smartwatch May Charge Wirelessly and Last Longer

Some smartwatches, such as the Pebble, can last for nearly a week without requiring a charge. But wrist-worn gadgets of the future could survive even longer. New Bluetooth advancements and technology from Broadcom promise to improve the wearable tech experience by extending battery life and maintaining a stronger connection with your smartphone. Broadcom's newly announced BCM20736 system-on-a-chip features a design that's both energy efficient and small enough to conserve space inside wearable gadgets such as smartwatches. The SoC combines Bluetooth,...

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Touch ID on Apple’s iPhone 5s is losing accuracy over time for some users

The shine is already wearing off of Apple’s new Touch ID technology for some iPhone 5s owners. Apple unveiled its latest flagship iPhone this past September and along with it, a new embedded fingerprint scanner brought about by the company’s 2012 acquisition of mobile security firm AuthenTec for $356 million. Dubbed Touch ID, the new technology places a sapphire glass-covered fingerprint scanner in the home button of Apple’s...

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Apple's iBeacon location-aware shopping goes live today

Apple is switching on "iBeacons" across its 254 US stores today, according to a report from the Associated Press. iBeacons, which use low-power Bluetooth transmitters to offer location-aware services to your phone, were quietly introduced along with iOS 7, and although other retailers have toyed with the idea of adding beacons to its stores, Apple's rollout today represents the first major deployment of the technology. The...

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MIT Video - Double Cone and Plane

MIT Video - Double Cone and Plane A double cone is placed on the bars of an inclined plane. Instead of rolling down the plane the cone rolls up. Although the plane slants upward, the bars diverge so that the rotational axis of the cone, which passes through the center of mass, actually moves downwa...

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Global PlayStation 4 sales reach 2.1 million units

And Sony wants to make sure you know that the tally accounts for actual sales to consumers, not just shipments to retailers' stockrooms. Sony's PlayStation 4 has hit another important milestone, some two weeks after the console launched. Sony on Tuesday announced that global PlayStation 4 sales have reached 2.1 million units worldwide. The company was quick to point out that the tally includes actual sales to consumers and not merely...

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Cyber Monday Sales Reach Record as Shoppers Snub Stores for Web

Online shopping surged about 20 percent to a record on Cyber Monday as many consumers snubbed physical stores and took to the Web to buy holiday gifts. Including shopping on personal computers and mobile devices, Internet retail sales on the Monday after Thanksgiving rose to almost $2 billion, according to researcher ComScore Inc. (SCOR) That made it the heaviest Web-spending day ever for the fourth straight year. More than $23.9 billion has been spent on the Web through PCs alone since Nov. 1, an 8.4 percent gain from the same period...

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Confirmed: Energy Drinks Are Bad For Your Heart

Fact: There are things in this world that, though delicious and convenient, are horrible for our bodies. Under dire circumstances, we may let ourselves indulge in a prepackaged brownie or some ramen noodles, but a new study reveals why we probably shouldn't reach for an energy drink — no matter how much we think we need the caffeine. A research team at the University of Bonn in Germany have found that energy drinks take a serious toll on our...

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