O-Wind Turbine wins James Dyson Award

Two students from the Lancaster University in the UK discovered a way to harness urban wind by inventing a new type of wind turbine. And this project is what won Chilean Nicolas Orellana and Kenyan Yaseen Noorani this year’s James Dyson Award. The two students taking up International Innovation MSc together invented the O-Wind Turbine. Instead of capturing wind travelling in one direction—which traditional turbines do—their invention has a geometric shape capable of generating wind, no matter which way the wind is blowing. The O-Wind Turbine was inspired by the NASA Mars Tumbleweed Rover and features a 25cm sphere with geometric vents. It sits on a fixed axis but spins when wind hits it from any direction. Gears drive the generator and these convert the wind power into electricity. Orellana and Noorani take home $50,000 for their project and another $8,500 for their university department.

In a press release about the win, Sir James Dyson said, “Design something that solves a problem is an intentionally broad brief. It invites talented, young inventors to do more than just identify real problems. It empowers them to use their ingenuity to develop inventive solutions. O-Wind Turbine does exactly that. It takes the enormous challenge of producing renewable energy and using geometry, it can harness energy in places where we’ve scarcely been looking—cities. It’s an ingenious concept.”

Microsoft pulls some updates for Office because it crashes the apps

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Microsoft’s update woes are far from over it seems. This time around, the company had to pull a couple of updates for Office 2010 suite—specifically KB2863821 and KB4461522, which were released on November 6 and November 20, respectively. Microsoft pulled the update and is asking people who’ve installed it to remove it from their systems saying users “may experience crashes in Microsoft Access or other applications.”

The other update KB4461529, which was released on November 13, is also causing crashes for Outlook but Microsoft decided against pulling this update because it also included security updates that help stop Office users’ from being attacked. Microsoft has acknowledged the issue though and is reportedly telling affected users to access Outlook from the web instead of using the app. Now, here’s to hoping this gets fixed soon.

Source: Tom’s Hardware

Amazon wants Bluetooth accessory makers to use Alexa, opens SDK for all developers

Jabra

Amazon wants its Alexa voice assistant to reach as wide an audience as possible. This time around, it’s targeting makers of Bluetooth headphones, headsets, and wearables. The company just made its Alexa Mobile Accessory Kit tool widely available to developers. Qualcomm even came out with a US$299 smart headset with Alexa reference design to help interested manufacturers and developers get started. Amazon is looking to bring Alexa to hands-free devices, so you can use it while exercising or doing other day-to-day activities when your hands are full. The software development kit first supported wireless Bluetooth headphones from Bose, Jabra, and Sony, but now the company wants it to support other Bluetooth devices like smartwatches and portable speakers, as well as traditional headsets.

What the SDK brings is letting these devices communicate with the Alexa app for iOS and Android without the need to build an app or Alexa skill on their own. “By leveraging the Amazon Alexa App that is readily available for Android and iOS, device makers accelerate product development, software integration, and testing time, while reducing product support costs,” explains Alfred Woo, a principal product manager for Alexa Voice Services. “After launch, their products are automatically updated to include new Alexa features and functionality when they arrive in the Amazon Alexa App.”

Source: The Verge

Google updates Find My Device app to show indoor layouts of large buildings

Google’s latest update to its Find My Device app might make it easier for you to locate your phone inside large buildings. And by large buildings, this includes complex spaces like malls, department stores, airports. Places Google has been recording layouts for through the years. However, the company didn’t list out which buildings the new feature applies to, so it’s going to be hit or miss if this will help you find your lost phone. But it could help narrow things down. Although, GPS can be wonky, so it still might not give you the most accurate reading. Aside from adding this feature though, the Find My Device app also now supports work profiles.

Source: The Verge