Tuesday
Jan242017

The best tablets for college students

It wasn’t too long ago that most students wanted a new laptop to take to college.  And while we still recommend that they do, a lot of students are now asking for tablets instead.  The reason for this is that many tablets can be linked up with a keyboard to act as a sort of 2 in 1 device.  They can be loaded up with digital textbooks and can be easily carried around.  Whether you are studying for an MBA or a masters degree in history from Norwich University, we’re sure that you will love the tablets we’ve picked out below.

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Monday
Jan232017

HoloLamp doesn’t need headsets to project 3D objects onto your desk

HoloLamp is looking to change how we interact with augmented reality, taking away one of its biggest hurdles: the need for AR glasses/headsets. Not to be confused with Microsoft’s Hololens headset, the HoloLamp, which has been co-founded by Alan Jay (who also co-founded IMDb) and Guillaume Chican (an expert in applied math). Chican was the one who first developed HoloLamp.

What it does is it projects 3D objects into a table without the need for the viewer to use glasses or headsets. It uses an age-old art technique that helps create the illusion of 3D even if the image projected is actually just 2D. A camera system inside the HoloLamp tracks your perspective and with it being connected to a PC, it’ll continue to adjust your point of view so even if you walk around the room, the image will continue to look like it’s in 3D. One of its big limitations is it can only work with one viewer at a time, meaning if there are other people viewing the 3D projection, it’ll just be a 2D object to them. It’s something their team has to work on to make HoloLamp a truly useful product. HoloLamp will be hitting Kickstarter by March, and if having something like this interests you, then you can pre-order at that time.

Source: Fastcodesign

Monday
Jan232017

‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ is about The Last Jedi

We no longer have to refer to the next Star Wars film as Episode VIII. It now gets its official title: Star Wars: The Last Jedi. It’s easy to think of who that can be. This latest installment, which is directed by Rian Johnson, picks up the story from The Force Awakens, when Rey (Daisy Ridley) was handing Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) his old lightsaber. From there, you can speculate that the story will revolve a lot around Luke. But we know nothing is quite what it seems in the Star Wars universe. For now, we get the title. Later this year, on December 15th to be exact, we’ll be getting the movie. Are you excited?

Source: The Verge

Monday
Jan232017

Samsung has new eight-step process for testing batteries

Samsung is looking to avoid the mishap of the Galaxy Note7 by introducing a new testing process as well as forming a battery advisory board. The latter will be comprised by academics from the likes of Cambridge, Berkeley, and Stanford. The former will be implemented for all lithium ion batteries in Samsung products.

The first three steps—durability, visual inspection, and X-ray—as well as open circuit voltage tests are already being conducted on batteries but now Samsung says the testing has been “enhanced” and will be done more frequently. As you see above, the other tests include charge and discharge tests, tests of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), disassembling tests, and accelerated usage tests. It’ll take some time for Samsung to win back the trusts of consumers but taking steps to make sure they do that is a step in the right direction.

Source: The Verge