Consumer Electronics News from Scientific American

When's the last time you treated yourself to a new mobile app? Okay, when's the last time you actually paid for an app? If you're like me, the answer was never. At least not until a few nights ago, when I sprang for an app called "Cholesterol Food Reference.” It lists different foods and their cholesterol content. Free apps are okay for following sports or movies, but this is a little more serious and, to me, worth the $2 asking price.

In this month's Scientific American column I drafted a "Cellular Bill of Rights." It documents all the ridiculous ways that cell phone carriers gouge, cheat and double-bill us.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Lifestyle, establish Fairness, ensure blood pressure Tranquility, provide for the common Text Messager, promote less Outrage and secure Cell phone Service that’s anywhere near as good as it is in Other Countries, do ordain and establish this Cellular Bill of Rights.

The shadowy nature of illegal media down­loading makes it difficult for researchers to analyze the true relation between piracy and lost sales. Does every movie download represent a theater ticket left unpurchased, as the movie industry contends? Or are most downloaders people who never would have bought a ticket in the first place?

In 2010 Brian David Johnson became Intel Corp. 's first futurist, a time-honored title bestowed on prognosticating technology mavens dating back to the likes of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells . Equal parts seer and evangelist, Johnson helps map out the future of technology and then guides his company toward that destination, whether it is five years or even a decade away. [More]




Intel Futurist on Why We Should Not Fear the Future (preview)

Much of intel’s success as a microprocessor manufacturer over the past four decades has come from the company’s ability to understand and anticipate the future of technology. Intel co-founder Gordon Moore famously asserted in 1965 that the number of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit would double every two years. This assessment, which came to be known as Moore’s Law, proved to be a highly accurate prediction of what his business could accomplish with generous research and development investments and a meticulous product road map.

Amazon and Apple dominate the e-reader market. But Microsoft and Barnes & Noble are teaming up to make a serious run at the leaders. Microsoft is investing more than $600 million in Barnes & Noble's efforts to launch a digital book and textbook subsidiary called Newco , and to help the bookseller to expand its online business globally.

In my Scientific American column this month , I chased down the answers to questions about wi-fi that have plagued mankind from the beginning--at least, the beginning of wireless Internet. Things like "Why do I have four bars but still can't connect?" and "Why do I see a phony hot spot called 'Free Public Wi-Fi' in airports?"

To most people, Wi-Fi is something of a miracle. Within 150 feet of some hidden base station, your laptop, tablet or phone can get online at cable-modem speeds--wirelessly.

Earlier this year Iran's defense minister put the world on notice: His nation had developed the ability to "easily" watch spacewalking astronauts from the ground. The announcement was largely ignored, in part because it made the minister sound like a James Bond villain. The boast was also a bit anticlimactic, given that even amateur astronomers are already recording in detail what happens in low Earth orbit. Both the technology involved and the techniques used to observe satellites and even the occasional astronaut perched outside the International Space Station (ISS) are improving, much to the presumed chagrin of governments looking to keep certain on orbital activity confidential. [More]




Apple Has Liquid Metal in Hand

The words "liquid metal" might conjure up images of the T-1000 from Terminator 2 . We're not aware of any shape-shifting robots in the works. But the rumor mill is buzzing with the possibility that Apple will include a special alloy made by the company Liquidmetal Technologies in the next-generation iPhone.

Apple has long enjoyed the reputation of making a computing platform that provides security protection that is superior to its peers--in a word, Microsoft. The emergence of a group of malicious software (malware) programs in recent months-- collectively known as Flashback or Flashfake --that specifically target Macs and their OS X operating system now has Apple in the unfamiliar position of being on the defensive. [More]




Computer Effects Virtually Resurrect Tupac

[Sound of Tupac Shakur: "Yeah! Yeah!"]

Counterfeit electronics embedded in missile guidance systems and hundred-million-dollar aircraft have become a serious problem for the U.S. military and its contractors. Unlike a knockoff Gucci purse or Rolex watch , however, it takes more than misspelled brand labels, altered logos or suspiciously low prices to spot a bogus microprocessor being passed off as the real thing. [More]




The Perils of Paying for Status

We all yearn to feel important, powerful and popular. The desire for social status is one of the most important factors driving human behavior--our rung on the social ladder can determine whom we marry and how long we live, among other things. Recent research suggests, however, that some of our attempts to boost our place in the social hierarchy can backfire: our actions may make us feel better temporarily, but they increase the chances we will be stuck with lower status in the long term.

Smart phone and tablet users will download nearly 36 billion mobile apps this year, according to Allied Business Intelligence. The lion's share will be for Apple and Google Android gadgets. Only about 2 percent will be apps for the Microsoft Windows Phone.

Science can advance quickly, rendering existing textbooks obsolete. Now new digital textbooks are emerging intended to better engage students and keep them up-to-date on the latest research. These e-books will cost (and weigh) less than the average printed tome. In January, Apple announced its iBooks 2 textbook platform for the iPad, and publishers, including McGraw-Hill, Pearson, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, have signed on to create content for it. In February, Nature Publishing Group, of which Scientific American is a part, came out with Principles of Biology, an interactive, multimedia “book” intended for university-level introductory biology classes that is accessible online using tablet computers, laptops, desktops and smartphones. Principles of Biology integrates text with videos, simulations, interactive exercises, illustrations and tests and also includes classic and current papers from Nature and related journals. Future titles in the life and physical sciences are in the works.

Free smart phone apps might seem like a deal. But they can have a hidden cost: your phone's battery life. That's because free apps often serve up ads, which can drain your battery more than using the app itself does.

NASA scientists may have debunked the claim that the world will end this December , but evidence suggests that the number of natural disasters has risen during the past few decades. This trend, combined with the accelerating growth of urban populations, has international aid organizations rethinking how crisis response strategies designed to help rural communities can be adapted for city folk. [More]




Ship-Safe Seas: Could the Titanic Disaster Happen Again?

After the Titanic sank on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic, claiming more than 1,500 lives, the international community took swift action to prevent similar catastrophes.