Technology trends

1. Technology trends Recent developments in (mobile) technology

2. Fourth-generation wireless broadband, known as 4G • 4G refers to the fourth generation of mobile broadband telecommunication networks that provide a protected IP-based connection (the Internet Protocol based connection), regardless of location. • It offers a high speed connectivity which can be accessed at any time and from any place. • Mobile broadband bandwidth heavy applications include data and voice, as well as video services. • Broadband - a system that enables many messages or large amounts of information to be sent at the same time and very quickly between computers or other electronic devices. • Bandwidth - the amount of information that can be sent between computers, through a telephone wire, etc .

3. 4G - is seen as crucial for video, gaming and downloading on a phone. • In telecommunications 4Gisa successor of the third generation (3G) standards. • A 4G system provides mobile ultraband Internet access, e.g. to laptops with USB wireless modems, to smartphones, and to other mobile devices. • Applications include amended mobile web access, IP (Internet Protocol) telephony, gaming services, high-definition mobile TV, video conferencing and 3D television.

4. Advantages • Easy access to the Internet, Social Networks, streaming media (a technology that e.g. enables you to include audio, video and other multimedia elements that visitors to your website will be able to listen to or view immediately without having to download the file to their own computer. It typically consists of audio only, video with audio or any combination of audio, illustrated audio, video, synchronised graphics or animation. E.g. streaming video (and audio) are data transmitted over a computer network for immediate playback rather than for file download and later (offline) playback), video calling, etc.; • The users are able to move from one network to anotherusing the same device. The wireless devices can perfectly connect to excellent networks which include LAN (Local Area Network), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications, originally Groupe Spécial Mobile), 3G and 4G→users swap to other networks with less congestion→efficiency as well as lower charges by service providers. • Quick download of files over a wireless network; • Extremely high voice quality; • Higher bandwidth enhanced by IP packet-switched communication. Packet-switched divides data which, in return, is transmitted all over the network as well as reassembling this data at the targeted point. This data also consumes less time to reach its destination. • 4G is 10 times faster than 3G.

5. Disadvantages • New frequencies means new components in cell towers (a cell tower / site is a site where antennas and electronic communications equipment are placed, usually on a radio mast, tower or other high place, to create a cell (or adjacent cells) in a cellular network);  • Higher data prices for consumers; • Consumer is forced to buy a new device to support the 4G; • It is impossible to make your current equipment compatible with the 4G network.

6. All HTML5? • Adobe’s announcement that it will no longer pursue Flash development means more HTML5. • HTML5 is the latest evolutionary stage of user interface development. • As the future of consumer UI (user interface), this means more creative professionals will be able to get their apps and software to market without worrying much about differences among platforms. • HTML – HyperText Markup Language - the main markup language for displaying web pages and other information that can be displayed in a web browser.

7. What is HTML5? HTML5 is the latest version of Hypertext Markup Language, thecode that describes web pages. It is actually three kinds of code: • HTML, which provides the structure; • Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), which take care of presentation; and • JavaScript (a computer programming language frequently used on the Internet), which makes things happen. HTML5 does everything from animation to apps, music to movies, and can also be used to build complicated applications that run in the browser (software used to locate, retrieve and display content on the World Wide Web, in other words an application programme that provides a way to lookat and interact with all the information on the World Wide Web. The word " browser" originated prior to the Web as a generic term foruser interfaces that let you ”browse” i.e. navigate through and read, text files online). HTML5 can be used to: • write web applications that still work when you are not connected to the net; • tell websites where you are physically located; • handle high definition (HD) video; and • deliver graphics. The latest Kindle book format boasts support for HTML

8. Emphasis on voice-recognition technology • With the iPhone4s’s introduction of Siri, things like voice search and recitationof emails will become less the exception and more the norm. • Siriis the intelligent personal assistant that helps you get things done just by asking. It allows you to use your voice to send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls, and more. • Siriisnot like traditional voice recognition software that requires you to remember keywords and speak specific commands. • Siriunderstands your natural speech, and it asks you questions if it needs more information to complete a task. • Skyvi is Sirifor Android.

9. Amazon has launched three new versions of the Kindle Fire as it attempts to take a bigger chunk of the booming tablet market • The world's biggest internet retailer unveiled the Kindle Fire HD in two screen sizes, 7in (17.8cm) or 8.9in (22.6cm). • The 8.9in HD device works off either Wi-Fi or fourth-generation wireless broadband, known as 4G. • The premium Kindle Fire HD has a 1920-by-1200 resolution screen, lagging behind Apple's so-called ‘Retina' display. It is also slightly smaller than the iPad's screen. • The launch will enable Amazon to compete with the more expensive Apple iPad, the best-selling tablet globally. The Retina is the sharpest, most vibrant, highest-resolution phone screen ever. It uses technology called IPS (in-plane switching) — the same technology used in the Apple LED Cinema Display and iPad — to achieve a wider viewing angle than on typical LCDs. It means that you can hold iPhone almost any way you want & still get a brilliant picture.

10. Features: • The Kindle Fire is a multi-tasker. • It is good for reading books, playing games, checking websites, listening to music and even checking e-mail. • The company made a number of improvements to the design and interface of the devices that make watching video an even better experience. • The new Kindle Fire HD has a faster processor, doubled RAM (Random Access Memoryprovides space for the computer to read and write data to be accessed by the CPU (central processing unit), improved audio and a higher resolution screen that gives off less glare. • The tablet is a tool for using content from the Amazon store, including books, music, TV, movies and apps.

11. Comparison: the iPadvKindle Fire HD • Display • Both tablets feature high-definition screens, although the details vary. • The iPad's ”Retina display” (a brand name used by Apple for liquid crystal displays which they claim to have a high enough pixel density that the human eye is unable to notice pixelation at a typical viewing distance) featured a total of 3.1 million pixels, with a resolution of 2,048 by 1,536. By contrast, the Fire HD measures 1,920 x 1,200 pixels, with custom features designed to reduce glare and improve colour saturation. • Both Apple and Amazon boast that the resolution on their tablet is so sharp that it is impossible for the human eye to see individual pixels. • Data plans • Until now, the Kindle Fire has been a WiFi-only device, and some of its new models remain that way. But Bezos announced that the top-end version of the Fire HD is available in 4G. • Apps • It is hard to compete with Apple's App Store. • There are more than 225,000 apps designed specifically for the iPad. Many work to take advantage of its display and screen size. • Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon, holds the new Amazon Kindle Fire HD. But while the Kindle Fire runs a modified version of Google's Android operating system, it only runs apps available from Amazon. That cuts the number available down to several thousand - more than enough for many users, but nowhere near what the iPad offers.

12. Conversion of brainwaves into speech • July 2012 • An American scientist has unveiled details of work on the brain patterns of Prof Stephen Hawking which he says could help safeguard the physicist’s ability to communicate. • Prof Philip Low said he eventually hoped to allow Prof Hawking to “write” words with his brain as an alternative to his current speech system which interprets cheek muscle movements. Prof Low said the innovation would avert the risk of locked-in syndrome. The iBrain device collects EEG data which it transfers to a computer.

13. Prof Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 1963. In the 1980s he was able to use slight thumb movements to move a computer cursor to write sentences. His condition later worsened and he had to switch to a system which detects movements in his right cheek through an infrared sensor attached to his glasses which measures changes in light. • Because the nerves in his face continue to deteriorate his rate of speech has slowed to about one word a minute prompting him to look for an alternative. The fear is that Prof Hawking could ultimately lose the ability to communicate by body movement, leaving his brain effectively “locked in” his body. • In 2011, he allowed Prof Low to scan his brain using the iBraindevice.

14. Intel’s effort • Intel (an American multinational semiconductor chip maker corporation headquartered in Santa Clara, CA. It is the world’s largest and highest valued semiconductor chip maker) is working on an alternative. • It is attempting to develop new 3D facial gesture recognition software to speed up the rate at which Prof Hawking can write. • “These gestures will control a new user interface that takes advantage of the multi-gesture vocabulary and advances in word prediction technologies.” The iBrain device collects EEG data which it transfers toa computer.

15. the Higgs boson • Physicists working at world’s biggest experiment, CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) said that they had discovered a new subatomic particle that looks for all the world like the Higgs boson, a potential key to an understanding of why elementary particles have mass and to the existence of diversity and life in the universe. • The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a 27 mile tunnel deep under the border between France and Switzerland. • It was built to recreate the conditions of the Big Bang, when the universe started, and to find the Higgs boson.  A representation of the search for the Higgs boson. The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Meyrin, near Geneva.

16. The Higgs boson is frequently referred to as ‘the god particle’, a name adopted after Leon Lederman’s book. • Itis a type of elementary particle within the Standard Model of particle physics. • It plays a key role in modern scientific theories of the universe and its existence or non-existence is considered pivotal (central) in determining which theories about the nature of the physical universe are more likely to be correct. • The existence of the Higgs boson was predicted in 1964 to explain the Higgs mechanism - the mechanism by which elementary particles are given mass. • While the Higgs mechanism is considered confirmed to exist, the boson itself - a cornerstone of the leading theory - had not been observed and its existence was unconfirmed. • Its tentative discovery in 2012 may validate the Standard Model as essentially correct, as it is the final elementary particle predicted and required by the Standard Model which has not yet been observed via particle physics experiments. God Particle Discovered