Technology

Spanish researchers say they've found a way to drastically improve the accuracy of GPS-based satellite navigation. They believe they can track a vehicle's location to the nearest six-and-a-half-feet, down from a current radius of nearly fifty feet. ... The improvements might not only allow drivers to get more accurate directions, but could even increase the viability of cars that can drive themselves. The research was carried out by two departments at the Carlos III University in Madrid: the Applied Artificial Intelligence Group and the Systems Intelligence Laboratory. Researchers Remove GPS ... (view more)

Vancouver General Hospital is testing a new, super-efficient robotic machine capable of ridding small- and medium-sized rooms of bacteria. Called Tru-D SmartUVC, the device uses powerful ultraviolet light to sanitize an enclosed area. It measures ... 1.65 meters tall and has long bulbs running vertically up a round, clear shaft (it resembles an illuminated R2D2). When the machine is activated, a mechanical voice gives a 15-second countdown. While this is happening, Tru-D measures reflections from the ultraviolet light to determine the size of its surroundings and calculates how much exposure will ... (view more)

California officials have overturned a ban that prevented a smartphone app-based taxi-style service from legally operating. The case was prompted by a smartphone app called 'Uber,' which allows customers to summon a luxury car and driver to their ... location at the press of a button. The cost of the ride is automatically charged to a customer's credit card. The service was a welcome idea for customers who wanted to avoid trying to hail a cab. Unfortunately, Uber initially ran into problems with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). California Officials: Uber a Taxi Service Why? ... (view more)

Canada's Research in Motion (RIM) finally unveiled its BlackBerry 10 mobile operating system (OS) on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the company's stock value plunged in the hours that followed, indicating that investors don't believe the new OS or a ... fresh range of smartphone devices can save the struggling firm. RIM showed off BlackBerry 10 (BB10) in a highly-publicized event on Wednesday, January 30, 2013. The new mobile OS is specially designed with touchscreen devices in mind and reflects RIM's decision to enter market space previously dominated by Apple's iPhone and a wide range of Android- ... (view more)

European researchers have made it possible to store coded data in the form of DNA, officially creating the most compact form of digital storage ever in existence. UK-based EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) recently announced the ... successful storage of encoded data in DNA format. The files include an MP3 of Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech, a .jpeg photo, and several other text files. Millions of Data Stored in a Cup of DNA The innovative encoding method makes it possible to store over 100 million hours of high-definition video in just a cup of DNA. Among its ... (view more)

It appears that one of the technology industry's most troubled companies may soon be staging a comeback. BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion (RIM) has just announced that its newest mobile operating system, BlackBerry 10, will begin to ship to ... consumers by late January, 2013. The news has led to a remarkable spike in RIM's recently languishing stock price. 2012/2013: Years RIM Would Like to Forget The last two years have represented a tough period for Canadian firm Research in Motion, which produces the BlackBerry smartphone. The formerly-innovative firm has struggled to prevent its customers ... (view more)

US-based aerospace and defense firm Boeing is working to improve the WiFi Internet service on its commercial aircraft. Surprisingly, the company is using potatoes as a low-tech solution to a high-tech problem. Recently, Boeing loaded passenger seats ... on a grounded aircraft with 9,000 kilograms (kg) of potatoes in sacks for several days, as technicians meticulously checked WiFi signal strengths. Because of their overall chemistry and high levels of water content, potatoes absorb and reflect radio wave signals much the same as human bodies. This makes standard spuds a suitable substitute for ... (view more)

An entrepreneur says he has a response to the intensifying debate about gun control in the US. He says that by utilizing innovative computer technology, he can ensure that only the rightful owner of a weapon can fire it. The technology requires a ... radio chip in the handle of the gun. The gun's owner would wear a corresponding chip, in the form of a ring or a bracelet. Some observers even suggest the chip could be implanted directly into the gun owner's hand. Robert McNamara, who owns the company TriggerSmart, patented this radio chip technology last spring. Smart Gun Tech Not New Of course, ... (view more)

A US Senate committee has approved the Location Privacy Protection Act. It's a bill that would ban the smartphone tools which allow people to track others without their knowledge. The act, introduced by Senator Al Franken, would force companies ... offering smartphone apps to get a phone user's permission before collecting or passing on data about their location. The new rules would also explicitly ban any application that tracked locations without the phone user's knowledge. (Source: govtrack.us ) According to Franken, such measures are necessary to prevent cases of people secretly installing a ... (view more)

A federal court has ruled that major cellphone carriers must let their smaller rivals use their data networks. This could mean more competitive deals and better coverage for smartphone and tablet owners, as well as those accessing mobile broadband ... on a laptop. The United States Court of Appeals has rejected a challenge by Verizon, thereby upholding an earlier ruling by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The original ruling primarily covered data roaming, the technique by which customers of one cellphone carrier access the data services of another carrier. The FCC had said that ... (view more)