On August 16th 2016, Intel announced that the next generation of smartphones may drop the 3.5mm analog audio port in favor of the new USB Type-C. The move is seen as a step forward in the evolution of the smartphone, by bringing digital audio to the technology. Replacing the 3.5mm jack will allow smartphone makers to reclaim valuable space that is now being taken up by digital to analog circuitry.
While many may lament the loss of the 3.5mm audio jack, Intel is promising that the new USB Type-C audio port will offer some new features that should more than make up of for the loss. First, the elimination of the jack will make the phones cheaper to make. By using USB Type-C ports, headphones will then be able to use smart power management that would automatically turn off the microphone when not in use.
USB Type-C will also offer the user other features such as noise cancelling and the ability to use sound effects to change how the audio sounds. The Apple MacBook and Samsung Galaxy Note 6 are already using USB Type-C, while it has been rumored that the Apple iPhone 7 will be adding the new port when it is released later in 2016. For those worried about using their current headphones, Intel says that dongles will be made available.
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Walmart Buys Jet.Com
On August 7th 2016, Walmart announced that it is buying e-retailer Jet.Com for $3 billion dollars. It's a cash deal that also includes $300 million is Walmart stock that will be paid out over time. Jet.Com is an e-commerce startup that was co-founded by entrepreneur, Marc Lore in 2014. It was recently valued at $1.6 billion. Lore will stay on and run both Walmart.Com and Jet.Com.
The deal signals Walmart's intent to step up its online presence and challenge Amazon.Com's e-commerce dominance. Walmart currently averages $14 billion in online sales compared to Amazon's $99 billion. While Walmart has been on line for 15 years and has spent billions building up its e-retail site, which includes seven distribution centers, its growth rate has been slow and has actually decelerated in the last year.
Jet.Com made its mark through the use of "gain sharing," which offers buyers the opportunity to reduce the price of their orders by adding additional items. Shoppers could also reduce their transaction fees by using their debit cards instead of credit cards. Walmart hopes to use Jet.Com's pricing technology to further reduce its shipping costs, while ramping up its delivery speed.
The deal signals Walmart's intent to step up its online presence and challenge Amazon.Com's e-commerce dominance. Walmart currently averages $14 billion in online sales compared to Amazon's $99 billion. While Walmart has been on line for 15 years and has spent billions building up its e-retail site, which includes seven distribution centers, its growth rate has been slow and has actually decelerated in the last year.
Jet.Com made its mark through the use of "gain sharing," which offers buyers the opportunity to reduce the price of their orders by adding additional items. Shoppers could also reduce their transaction fees by using their debit cards instead of credit cards. Walmart hopes to use Jet.Com's pricing technology to further reduce its shipping costs, while ramping up its delivery speed.
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Microsoft Releases Windows 10 Anniversary Update
On August 2nd 2016, Microsoft began the roll out of the Anniversary update to its Windows 10 operating system. Microsoft offered Windows 10 as a free upgrade on July 29th 2015 and gave the OS away until July 29th 2016. Those who missed the free upgrade must now pay $119 if they wish to make their computer current. The roll out of the Anniversary update will be done in phases with those who own newer machines getting their downloads first.
Some of the new features in the Windows 10 Anniversary update include Windows Ink which allows users to enter information with the aide of a stylus. Cortana, Microsoft's digital assistant will become a much more integral part of the system, and users will no longer be able to turn it off. From now on when you use the search box you will essentially be using Cortana. However, while Cortana can't be turned off, users can limit its access to their personal data.
Microsoft's Edge browser will get Chrome like extensions that include AdBlock, 1Password, LastPass, and EverNote. There's also a new Skype App, Windows Apps on Xbox, Windows 10 UI Tweaks, and Bash in Windows. Bash is a Linux command line that's intended primarily for developers and has to be enabled in order to use. And, Windows 10 will allow you to sync your Windows or Android phone and use Cortana to receive your notifications on your computer.
Some of the new features in the Windows 10 Anniversary update include Windows Ink which allows users to enter information with the aide of a stylus. Cortana, Microsoft's digital assistant will become a much more integral part of the system, and users will no longer be able to turn it off. From now on when you use the search box you will essentially be using Cortana. However, while Cortana can't be turned off, users can limit its access to their personal data.
Microsoft's Edge browser will get Chrome like extensions that include AdBlock, 1Password, LastPass, and EverNote. There's also a new Skype App, Windows Apps on Xbox, Windows 10 UI Tweaks, and Bash in Windows. Bash is a Linux command line that's intended primarily for developers and has to be enabled in order to use. And, Windows 10 will allow you to sync your Windows or Android phone and use Cortana to receive your notifications on your computer.
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Verizon Buys Yahoo
On July 25th 2016, Verizon announced that it is buying internet pioneer, Yahoo, for $4.83 billion in cash. The deal will allow Verizon to join Yahoo with AOL (America On Line), which it purchased in 2015 for $4.4 billion. As part of the deal Verizon will also gain access to Yahoo's search, news, finance, sports, video, and email brands, as well as the storage site Flickr and the Tumblr social network.
Yahoo was founded in 1994 by two Stanford graduates, Jerry Yang and David Filo who called the site, Jerry & David's Guide To The World Wide Web. They quickly changed the name to Yahoo and by 1996, the Yahoo brand was being publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. It rode the dot com bubble and manage to trade as high as $500 a share. At one point, Yahoo's search engine was the third most popular.
The sale of Yahoo to Verizon will not include Yahoo's cash. Nor will it include its shares in Alibaba Group holdings, Yahoo Japan, Yahoo's convertible notes, or its non core patents. Those Yahoo assets will be brought together as a new publicly traded company under a new name. The sale of Yahoo to Verizon must still be approved by federal regulators, but both companies feel confident that the sale will close some time in early 2017.
Yahoo was founded in 1994 by two Stanford graduates, Jerry Yang and David Filo who called the site, Jerry & David's Guide To The World Wide Web. They quickly changed the name to Yahoo and by 1996, the Yahoo brand was being publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. It rode the dot com bubble and manage to trade as high as $500 a share. At one point, Yahoo's search engine was the third most popular.
The sale of Yahoo to Verizon will not include Yahoo's cash. Nor will it include its shares in Alibaba Group holdings, Yahoo Japan, Yahoo's convertible notes, or its non core patents. Those Yahoo assets will be brought together as a new publicly traded company under a new name. The sale of Yahoo to Verizon must still be approved by federal regulators, but both companies feel confident that the sale will close some time in early 2017.
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Apple Proposes New Streaming Royalty Rate
On July 15th 2016, Apple submitted a proposal for a fixed royalty rate to the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board. Apple's stated intention for the proposal is to simplify the way that music streaming companies pay songwriters and publishers. Under the new proposal, all streaming services would have to pay 9.1 cents per 100 streams.
Music streamers with "free tiers" such as Spotify and YouTube will be most noticeably affected. These ad supported services don't bring in as money as the subscription services, and therefore have a much smaller revenue payout. Apple, however, says that it's proposed royalty rate structure would only make accounting simpler and more transparent.
The U.S. Copyright Royalty Board is a panel of three judges, whose job is to set the terms and rates for statutory licenses. The Board is still in the process of determining the statutory rates to be paid to songwriters and publishers for downloads and streams for the period from 2018 to 2022. Until they rule, Apple's proposal will remain just that. However, the era of the "free tier" may be coming to a close.
Music streamers with "free tiers" such as Spotify and YouTube will be most noticeably affected. These ad supported services don't bring in as money as the subscription services, and therefore have a much smaller revenue payout. Apple, however, says that it's proposed royalty rate structure would only make accounting simpler and more transparent.
The U.S. Copyright Royalty Board is a panel of three judges, whose job is to set the terms and rates for statutory licenses. The Board is still in the process of determining the statutory rates to be paid to songwriters and publishers for downloads and streams for the period from 2018 to 2022. Until they rule, Apple's proposal will remain just that. However, the era of the "free tier" may be coming to a close.
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Carbon Dioxide Can Now Be Turned Into Stone
On June 10th 2016, it was announced in the journal Science that scientists have found a way to successfully turn carbon dioxide emissions into stone. Researchers in Iceland say that they have advanced the carbon capture and sequestration process to the next level. The process is called Carbfix, which was developed in 2012, and is now being used to store carbon dioxide underground.
The breakthrough, which was made at Iceland's Hellisheidi Power Plant just outside of Reykjavik, was the discovery that carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide could be mixed with water and then injected into volcanic basalt rock. Doing this causes a series of chemical reactions to take place that turns the basalt into a whitish, chalky mineral called calcite. This process, known as carbonation was believed to take many years.
However, in 2012, the researchers injected 250 tons of carbon dioxide mixed with hydrogen sulfide into basalt rock that was 1,500 feet down. After two years, 95% of the injected carbon dioxide beneath the plant had turned into stone. Martin Stute, a hydrologist at Lamont-Dorhety Earth Observatory at Columbia University and co-author of the study said, "This means we can pump down a lot of CO2 and store it in a very safe way over a short period of time.
The breakthrough, which was made at Iceland's Hellisheidi Power Plant just outside of Reykjavik, was the discovery that carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide could be mixed with water and then injected into volcanic basalt rock. Doing this causes a series of chemical reactions to take place that turns the basalt into a whitish, chalky mineral called calcite. This process, known as carbonation was believed to take many years.
However, in 2012, the researchers injected 250 tons of carbon dioxide mixed with hydrogen sulfide into basalt rock that was 1,500 feet down. After two years, 95% of the injected carbon dioxide beneath the plant had turned into stone. Martin Stute, a hydrologist at Lamont-Dorhety Earth Observatory at Columbia University and co-author of the study said, "This means we can pump down a lot of CO2 and store it in a very safe way over a short period of time.
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Juno Spacraft Now Orbits Jupiter
On July 4th 2016, NASA announced that its Juno spacecraft had been successfully inserted into orbit around the planet Jupiter. The mission's success came at 11:53 pm (EDT), after a nearly five year, 1.7 billion mile journey. Juno is expected to orbit the gas giant for twenty months or 37 orbits. It will become the first of NASA's spacecraft to assume a polar orbit and will fly at an altitude of 31,000 miles.
The main objective of Juno's mission is to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter. While in orbit, Juno will investigate the possibility of a sold Jovian planetary core. Other mission goals include mapping Jupiter's electromagnetic fields, measuring the amount of water and ammonia within the atmosphere, and a closer inspection of the planets auroras. The mission is also to gain an understanding of how giant planets like Jupiter are formed.
Juno is the second spacecraft designed under NASA's New Frontiers Program. The first was the New Horizons probe which flew by Pluto in 2015. Juno was launched in august of 2011. After its twenty month mission is over, the spacecraft will be deliberately flown into Jupiter's atmosphere where it will be destroyed by the planet's extreme temperatures and pressure. This will serve to protect the moons of Jupiter from any possible earthly contamination.
The main objective of Juno's mission is to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter. While in orbit, Juno will investigate the possibility of a sold Jovian planetary core. Other mission goals include mapping Jupiter's electromagnetic fields, measuring the amount of water and ammonia within the atmosphere, and a closer inspection of the planets auroras. The mission is also to gain an understanding of how giant planets like Jupiter are formed.
Juno is the second spacecraft designed under NASA's New Frontiers Program. The first was the New Horizons probe which flew by Pluto in 2015. Juno was launched in august of 2011. After its twenty month mission is over, the spacecraft will be deliberately flown into Jupiter's atmosphere where it will be destroyed by the planet's extreme temperatures and pressure. This will serve to protect the moons of Jupiter from any possible earthly contamination.
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