Archive for the ‘test’ Category

NASA’s Global Hawk completes unmanned airborne refueling simulation, will do it for real next year (video)

While some bot makers are busying themselves designing AI to simulate humans’ natural and distinct lack of intelligence, it’s nice to see there are still old-fashioned researchers out there keeping the Skynet dream alive. Northrop Grumman’s aeronautics gurus have paired together a Global Hawk unmanned aircraft with a manned Proteus ship way up in the skies — 45,000 feet, to be precise — with the vessels of ingenuity managing to fly in tandem at a distance as short as 40 feet. Unsurprisingly, this is the first time such intimacy has been reached between UAVs (the Proteus had a monitoring crew on board to ensure the insurance bill wasn’t through the roof) in high altitude, and the ultimate goal of having two Global Hawks doing the deed without any human intervention is said to be within reach by next year. That’s when these light and agile air drones will be able to refuel themselves and go on for a mighty 120 hours in the air… plenty of time to complete a well planned extermination down below, if one were so inclined.

Continue reading NASA’s Global Hawk completes unmanned airborne refueling simulation, will do it for real next year (video)

NASA’s Global Hawk completes unmanned airborne refueling simulation, will do it for real next year (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 03:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Six Android browsers enter the ring, only one reigns supreme

Choice is a good thing, and Android users certainly have a lot of choices. Default launcher or Launcher Pro? Fancy animated live wallpaper or static picture of adorable puppies? Stock browser or alternative? It’s that last question that has plagued so many, and to offer some guidance PC World pitted six of the Market’s top choices against each other. The 2.1 and 2.2 stock browsers entered, along with Skyfire 2.0, Opera Mini, Dolphin HD, and Mozilla Fennec (the pre-beta release of what could bring Firefox to your phone). The winner? Well, you can see the ultimate speed results above, with SkyFire surprisingly trumping Opera Mini, though that one seemingly has ‘em beat when it comes to repeat-visits. However, the full story when it comes to things like page rendering and Flash compatibility is naturally a good bit more complex. For those details you’ll need to click on through.

[Thanks, Tim]

Six Android browsers enter the ring, only one reigns supreme originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 02:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Research In Motion Is Testing a Tablet

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is testing a tablet that could act as a “companion” to its BlackBerry phone, says the Wall Street Journal.

The BlackBerry tablet is reportedly in the early stage of development and will tether to the the phone. Last month, the Boy Genius Report web site said the BlackBerry tablet is likely to have an 8.9-inch screen and include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.

Since Apple introduced the iPad in April, other PC and smartphone makers have announced that they are working on tablets of their own. In less than 60 days since the iPad was launched, Apple said it sold more than 2 million of them.

Earlier this month, Dell announced it will introduce a tablet called ‘Streak’ that will have a 5-inch display and run Google’s Android operating system. The Streak also has a SIM card so users can make calls with it. The device is currently available in the U.K. now and is expected to launch in the U.S. next month for $500.  HP is also working on a tablet computer called the HP Slate.

RIM hopes to introduce its tablet to complement its BlackBerry phones. The move evokes Palm’s failed experiment with the Foleo. In 2007, Palm announced the Foleo as a companion device to its Treo phone. The Foleo priced at $500 would sync wirelessly to Treo phones. But, after much criticism, Palm cancelled the device even before it could make it to retail shelves.

RIM’s tablet might be better received. A tablet could help RIM compete better with the latest generation of smartphones. Except for the BlackBerry Storm, RIM hasn’t released any smartphones with touchscreens. A tablet could help bridge the gap between its keyboard-focused phones and the fast growing market for touchscreen devices.

See Also:

• BlackBerry Maker Overhauls Phone Operating System
• 5 Things RIM Needs to Fix in its BlackBerries
• Gallery: 8 Tablets That Aren’t Made by Apple
• Hands-On With the Apple iPad

Photo: (ichibod/Flickr)

Inside a Cellphone Radiation Testing Lab

Is radiation from cellphones dangerous or not? As consumers become increasingly glued to their phones, researchers, environmental organizations and cellphone industry groups are debating this question.

So far, the answer is elusive. But there’s one fact you can get: How much radiation your head is absorbing from any given phone.

In the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission sets the acceptable radiation standards for cellphones. As part of the device certification process, all handset makers have to offer a certificate from an independent lab that show how the device rates.

Milpitas, California-based CETECOM is one of those labs. The company performs radiation testing on devices such as mobile phones, laptops, USB modems and sometimes even ankle monitors used by law enforcement. For each category of devices, the testing process is near identical.

Wired.com got a rare peek into the labs when we watched them test the iPhone with and without Pong, a new iPhone case that promises to reduce the amount of radiation hitting your brain by directing it up and away from your head.

The effects of the radiation depend on the rate at which energy is absorbed by a mass of tissue, like your head. It is called the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) and measured in watts per kilogram (W/kg).

Based on a recommendation from industry group, IEEE, the FCC limits SAR levels for partial-body exposure (including the head) to up to 1.6 W/kg (watts/kilogram), and whole body exposure to up to 0.08 W/kg. For hands, wrists, feet, and ankles, the limit is up to 4 W/kg, averaged over 10 grams of tissue.

In general, the lower the SAR the better the phone, from a potential health hazard point of view. To test the SAR, a mold in the shape of a human head is filled with a fluid that is formulated to simulate the electrical properties of the human tissue. This fluid typically is made up of salt, sugar, water and a viscosity additive.

The model for the human head is called SAM or a Standard Anthropomorphic Model. The size of the head is based on on the 90th percentile dimensions of the male head, as determined by a study of U.S. Army personnel in the late 1980s — in other words, it’s a big head. Overall ambient temperature and humidity of the testing chamber is also controlled. In this case, the ambient temperature was at 70.7 degrees Fahrenheit and the relative humidity was 36.1 percent, approximating a beautiful fall day in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The first step in the testing process is to strap the iPhone to the head mold. The phone itself is taped to the mold in a way such that the antenna of the phone is positioned near the jaw. The testing system itself consists of a computer-controlled probe, a robotic arm, amplifier output that connect to a PC and a cable that connects to a universal radio communication tester.

“You can’t do a test with the phone dialing up AT&T because the signal strength would be all over the place,” says Albert Liu, vice-president of business development at Pong Research.

The iPhone is placed in a call with the radio communication tester, which transmits a signal at full power. Now the robotic probe scans the head, measuring the radio frequency energy that is absorbed at each point. The probe finds the region of the highest RF field and then the location with the highest absorption rate.

Since brain tissue isn’t flat, SAR measurement in terms of W/kg is averaged over 1 g of tissue.

The robotic probe takes anywhere from 20 minutes to 30 minutes to complete the process. According to the certificate filed with the FCC, Apple’s iPhone 3G S has a maximum SAR of 1.19 W/kg when held at the ear. Our test showed the iPhone 3G to have a  SAR of 1.18 W/kg, or just about the same as the official FCC number.

Next up, testing the iPhone with a Pong case. The process is repeated and about 20 minutes later, the results are spewed out at with SAR clocking in at 0.42 W/kg.

In other words, Pong’s claims seem to be legitimate: Its case reduces the amount of radiation going from the iPhone into your head to a third of what it would be without the case. Contrary to what we initially wrote on the Pong case, it does appear to work.

Another test that handset makers often run on their devices is the signal strength test. The test is conducted in a specially constructed chamber called an anechoic chamber. CETECOM has a radio frequency anechoic chamber where the interior surfaces are covered with radiation absorbent material.

In this case, the iPhone is strapped to the model with the phone facing the ground. The test measures the effective level of radiated power that the phone emits while in a transmit mode. The burst power or the channel power from the phone is measured. The result is a spherical radiation pattern that yields the Total Radiated Power.

The test takes about 45 minutes including set up and is almost completely automated. All that a lab technician needs to do is position the phone right and make sure the computer spews out the results.

In case of the iPhone, the total radiated power was 12.54 dBm (decibels per milliwatt) and remained almost the same with the Pong case, indicating that the sleeve has no effect on signal strength of the phone.

See Also:

• Study Reveals How Much Cellphone Radiation You’re Getting
• Video: Cellphone Radiation Pops Popcorn
• Nothing to Fear From Wi-Fi Radiation
• Cellphones Get Radiation Labels

Photos: Priya Ganapati

Mice run through Quake, Princeton neuroscientists scan their brains for traces of evil (video)

Want to know just how prevalent technology has become in our lives? Now even lab mice get Quake-derived virtual reality playgrounds to navigate instead of their old school wooden mazes. In all honesty, this appears a significant and praiseworthy advancement, as the Princeton team have succeeded in mapping brain activity right down to the cellular level, with real-time tracking of single neurons now possible. The Orwellian-looking setup above is necessary in order to keep the mouse’s head immobile, and thus capable of being studied, while the animal moves around and its brain performs motion-related tasks. Go past the break to see a schematic of the scanner and a quite unmissable video of it in action.

[Via Switched]

Continue reading Mice run through Quake, Princeton neuroscientists scan their brains for traces of evil (video)

Filed under: Science

Mice run through Quake, Princeton neuroscientists scan their brains for traces of evil (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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