Google Algorithms Over Years

Google first appeared in 1998. By that time it was the first search engine that used link metrics for rankings. But the first major update didn’t happen until 2000.

From this day forward, it was an avalanche of small changes and big updates. The people from Google are doing all they can to always improve their search algorithm so that we, users, can get the best results and never be offered a spammy website.

To get really familiar with the updates that have happened over the past 12 years, make sure you take a look at this infographic. It shows thorough information about the little and bigger changes that you need to know about and how they affected the way we search today.

World record for data transfer speeds broken

In an effort to push the limits, researchers have conducted a test and have surpassed the world record for data transfer speeds. Data was, in effect, transmitted to and from the destination at a combined rate of 186Gbps (gigabits per second). This speed is fast enough to transfer millions upon millions of gigabytes of data. To put it more simply, this speed is equal to the amount of data in approximately a hundred thousand Blu-ray discs within a single day.

This discovery might pave the way for networks to have standard transfer rates of 100Gbps. It would also be able to speed up the sharing of scientific research and data transfer processes.

Data was sent from the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia, to the Washington State Convention Centre in Seattle and back again. The research team was able to achieve two-way data rates of 186Gbps. This broke their previous record of 119Gbps that they were able to set in 2009.

Source – BBC

$99, MIPS-powered tablet ships with Android 4.0 -Ainovo Novo7

Ainol Electronics has begun shipping what it claims is the world's first Android 4.0 ("Ice Cream Sandwich") tablet. Now available in China for only $99, the Ainovo Novo7 comes with a MIPS-based, 1GHz Ingenic JZ4770 XBurst processor, seven-inch capacitive multitouch screen, dual cameras, an HDMI 1.3 port, a microSD slot -- and a testimonial from Google's Andy Rubin.

Ainol's Ainovo-branded Novo7 tablet was announced by MIPS Technologies and its system on chip (SoC) partner in China, Ingenic Semiconductor. Now available in China for under $100, the tablet will be available in the U.S. and other markets "within the next several months" under brands from companies including Leader International and OMG Electronics, say the partners. Eight- and nine-inch versions are also said to be under development.




Ainovo Novo7
The Novo7 is the first shipping Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) tablet, according to the partners. It represents nimble work indeed, since Android 4.0's source code was released by Google as recently as Nov. 14. (ICS had been expected to appear first on the well-reviewed quad-core Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, which will be available for the holidays running Android 3.2.1, with an ICS upgrade expected in January.)


Novo7 from another angle

The world's first ICS tablet offers a number of surprises. Not only is it running a MIPS-based SoC rather than an ARM processor, but it's a seven-inch model, and it's selling for a $99 price that makes even the $200 Amazon Kindle Fire look overpriced. On the other hand, purchases outside of China require an additional $60 in shipping and handling, bringing the total to $159. Ingenic's JZ4770 (pictured) is the latest in a line of MIPS-architecture "Xburst" processors, which appeared in early versions of the low-cost Velocity Cruz Android tablets before the company switched to a Cortex-A8 processor in its latest Velocity Micro Cruz T408 and Cruz T410.
In January of this year, MIPS announced that China-based Ingenic had begun formally licensing the MIPS32 architecture for its mobile device SoCs. Ingenics has been building MIPS-derived Xburst cores for years, but up until a year ago, hasn't paid any fees. Some 30 million XBurst CPUs have been shipped to date, says the company.
Ingenic's JZ4770 [translated product page] SoC uses the "Xburst1" architecture based on a MIPS32 R2 core clocked at 1GHz. The 65-nanometer fabricated processor core offers 2.5 DMIPS performance, and consumes less than 90mW of power at full speed with L1 cache, claims the company. Equipped with 16KB each of instruction and data cache, the Xburst1 is said to supply Ingenics' own SIMD instruction set atop the MIPS architecture.
The Xburst1 spec will move to a 40nm fabricated version that clocks at up to 1.5GHz, and in 2012, Ingenic's Xburst2 processor line is due to begin sampling, featuring 64-bit, dual-issue, dual-thread MIPS technology.
The JZ4770 SoC pairs the 1GHz Xburst processor core with a 444MHz Vivante GC860 3D graphics processing unit (GPU), offering support for OpenGL ES 2.0 and OpenVG 1.1, according to MIPS and Ingenic. The JZ4770 SoC also integrates a 1080p video processing engine capable of decoding 10-bit X.264 video for 1080p playback, say the partners. In addition, there are said to be various on-chip analog and application blocks on the SoC including audio codecs and GPS.
The entire SoC is said to consume about 250mW operating under full load. As a result, the tablet draws less than 400mA during active web browsing, claim the partners. That translates into a claimed battery life of six hours of game play, seven hours of web browsing, eight hours for video, 25 hours for music, and 30 hours on standby.
No memory or storage details were offered on the Novo7 except that a microSD slot is available. In addition, the tablet is said to supports Microsoft's exFAT storage format, which can store files of over 4GB each. The seven-inch, display uses capacitive multitouch technology, but no resolution details were supplied.


Novo7's dual cameras
(Click to enlarge)

Other standard features include 802.11 b/g/n, an HDMI 1.3 port, as well as a USB 2.0 port, supporting an external 3G module, says Ainol. The rear-facing camera is limited to two megapixels, and no details were offered on the front videocam. The Novo7 ships with Google Compatibility Test Suite (CTS) certification, and even received a testimonial of sorts from Google's Andy Rubin (see farther below). The CTS compatibility indicates that Google apps such as Gmail, Google Talk, Google Maps, and Google Music (Beta) work perfectly on the tablet, claims Ainol. There are no claims that these apps are actually preinstalled on the tablet, but the Novo7 does offer Gameloft's Spider-Man game.
MIPS on Android background
MIPS helped support a port of Android to the MIPS architecture, a task that was completed in June 2009, based on Embedded Alley's initial Android to MIPS port. (Embedded Alley was since acquired by Mentor Graphics.) 
MIPS has been running with the Android theme ever since. At CES 2010, MIPS demonstrated numerous Android-based IPTV STBs and related products -- primarily using Sigma Designs processors. At CES 2011, MIPS showed off a Chinese-made Android smartphone design branded with the Sanno name. The company also announced new "SmartCE" TV set-top platform based on Android.
Stated Andy Rubin, senior vice president of mobile at Google, "I'm thrilled to see the entrance of MIPS-Based Android 4.0 tablets into the market. Low cost, high performance tablets are a big win for mobile consumers."
Stated Qiang Liu, chairman and CEO, Ingenic Semiconductor, "We are pleased to join with MIPS to announce these breakthrough high-performance, low-power, low-cost Android 4.0 tablets."
Stated Sandeep Vij, president and CEO, MIPS Technologies, "We applaud Ingenic's accomplishment in developing this new high-performance, feature-rich Android 4.0 tablet, and offering it at a price point that makes it widely accessible."
Availability
The Ainovo Novo7 is now available with Android 4.0 in China and online through Ainol Electronics at its Ainovo product page for $99 (U.S.) non-subsidized, according to Ainol. The product is said to be 30 percent off the regular price, and U.S. orders also require $60 in shipping and handling. The tablet will be available in other geographies within the next several months, say the partners.

3-D Projection Tech Makes Images Hover in Mid-Air, No Screen Necessary

Aerial 3D by Burton Using lasers to excite nitrogen and oxygen in the air, the Aerial 3D system produces natural 3-D images in space without using a screen.

It’s a kind of validation when our past visions of the future and the present collide, reminding us that things we thought were possible back then actually were within reach. Take, for example, Tokyo-based Burton’s Aerial 3D technology. The company claims it’s the first 3-D tech that casts three-dimensional objects in mid-air without using any kind of screen. 

Rather than using a screen to generate the illusion of three dimensions, Aerial 3D is a laser system that uses beams of light projected from below to generate plasma excitation in atoms of oxygen and nitrogen in the air. It currently can create 50,000 points of light per second, giving it a somewhat choppy frame rate of 10-15 fps. Burton is working to improve that to 24-30 fps, comparable to that of basic video.

The result of all of this is a floating, 3-D image that can be viewed naturally in 360 degrees.