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Mobile banking firm sues Facebook over Calibra's logo
Facebook's Libra project has yet another issue to deal with: a mobile banking app has sued the social network's Calibra subsidiary over their very similar logos. The tech giant introduced Calibra as the division that will oversee its cryptocurrency plans, including the development of a digital wallet. According to the lawsuit filed by a mobile banking company called Current, Calibra's logo "is not only confusingly similar to, but virtually identical to the Current Marks."
AT&T's smart streetlights can smooth traffic, detect gunshots
AT&T first unveiled its ambitious "Smart Cities" program at CES 2017 in Las Vegas, but now we have an idea as to how it's going to work. The telecom has signed a deal with GE to install its Current CityIQ sensors into streetlights in various cities and municipalities around the US, starting with San Diego. The aim is to not just provide more intelligent lighting, but also monitor things like traffic circulation, parking spots, air quality, weather emergencies and even gunshots
'Tractor beam' for water can pull boats in any direction
It can be difficult to get waterborne objects to go in the right direction -- just ask any boat captain who has had to fight waves on a choppy sea. However, researchers at the Australian National University have developed a "tractor beam" (really, a wave generator) that would make it trivial for you to float anything to its intended destination. The system creates complex 3D waves that have their own currents, letting you pull a target simply by adjusting the waves' frequencies and sizes. In fact, you can produce any flow you like; scientists in the lab made vortices on demand.
Current Caller ID app adds social info, weather details, suggests a good time to ring back
If staring at the incoming callers' visage just wasn't enough, Current's Caller ID might worth a try. The utility app adds a raft of extra detail to your smartphone when it rings, from recent tweets and status updates through to weather conditions and even location data. After loading up the app, you can connect to your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles, which Current Caller ID combines with your existing contact list. Based on your use history, the app will even offer up a time to return missed calls. There's the nice addition of some metrics between you and your phonebook, visualizing that precarious balance between text messages and calls with your significant other -- or a timegraph of when you call Mom. These stats are possibly more useful than the caller ID features, and while the design does jar a little with the typical Android aesthetic, it's hard to complain when the app's free. If you're willing to forgive those minor visual flaws, the download awaits at the source below.
Light-based 'Metatronics' chip melts minds, not copper
Engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have flipped the switch on a new type of computer circuit. Unlike conventional silicon, the new chip uses light -- not electricity -- to perform its logic. By creating an array of nano-rods, light-flow can be treated like voltage and current. These rods can then be configured to emulate electrical components such as resistors, inductors and capacitors. The benefits of the so-called "metatronic" system would be smaller, faster and more efficient computer chips, which is clearly a welcome prospect. Another curious property the team discovered, is what it calls "stereo-circuitry." Effectively one set of nano-rods can act as two different circuits, depending on the plane of the field. This means your CPU could become a GPU just by changing the signal. We can't speak for the light itself, but our minds are certainly bent.
iDVM Digital Multimeter collects voltage readings on your iDevice, shares them with whoever cares
This, dear reader, is the iDVM Digital Multimeter -- the world's very first iDevice-enabled voltmeter, from Redfish Instruments. Designed with auto technicians, electricians and engineers in mind, the iDVM uses an ad hoc wireless network to connect to any iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, allowing users to record voltage, resistance and current directly from their palms. Once you've purchased the multimeter and downloaded the accompanying iDVM app, you'll be able to gather electrical measurements from up to 30 yards away from your target, log data over extended periods of time and export your findings in spreadsheet or graph displays. The rechargeable battery-powered device can also read your measurements back to you, which should make you feel slightly less lonely while digging around your car's engine at 3 am. We're still not sure why anyone would want to juggle their iPhone while chasing down a shorted wire, but if you do, the iDVM starts shipping on June 1st, for $220 -- which could buy you about 40 less complicated multimeters from Harbor Freight. Full PR after the break.
ST-Ericsson's PM2300 will charge smartphones and tablets twice as fast, speeding to market this fall
We can't say the methods for charging mobile devices have been top of our agenda lately, but when you're talking about speeding anything up by 100 percent, our interest is inevitably piqued. ST-Ericsson has come up with a new charger, tailored specifically for servicing tablets and mobile phones, that can juice them up at the brisk rate of 3 Amps. Efficiency is touted all over the place with this accessory, from the 60 percent improvement in PCB utilization to the 92 percent maximum power throughput rating, bringing the drably titled PM2300 dangerously close to a state of desirability. Best of all, tablets featuring its promised double-speed refilling capabilities are expected in the fall of this year, so the wait won't be long, however you look at it. [Thanks, Ola]
Apple patent application points to denser batteries, improved charging technique
Some might think a ten-hour Macbook battery mighty fine, but we're happy to say that Cupertino's not quite satisfied. AppleInsider spotted a pair of Apple patent applications detailing a improved way of juicing up those lithium-polymer cells, which should greatly increase the number of recharge cycles they can endure -- or, optionally, allow Apple to use denser batteries that last longer on a charge. We'll break it down for you: the graph in the upper-left shows how Li-ion batteries currently charge, first very rapidly (constant current, increasing voltage) and then more slowly (constant voltage, decreasing current) to top the cells off. What Apple's proposing is the multi-step method depicted on the right, where current and voltage trade off, to charge the battery while being far less harsh on the physical chemistry of the electrodes inside. As you can see in the bottom graph, the multi-step CC-CV cells lose much less of their potential after 300 recharge cycles, but that's not all Apple's cooking up -- the company figures that it can increase the thickness of the electrodes to improve battery life (by as much as 28Wh/L, according to one chart) without negative effect thanks to the softer charge. Sure, we'd rather have plant-eating graphene supercapcitors, but this sounds like a plan for now.
Will Wright to produce reality show with user-created storylines
That sneaky Will Wright always seems to be working on something amazing and/or secret, but this one caught us by surprise: His next project is actually a television show. He's working on The Creation Project in conjunction with Current, and eventually the show will involve viewers picking and choosing different storylines that will eventually be produced as two half-hour episodes of a real TV show. According to leaked planning documents, there's a big online and mobile component with the show as well, including a possible tool that would allow users to make and discuss their own storyboards. Of course, all of this is still in the planning stages, but that's okay -- it gives us plenty of time to work on our script about a game developer whose game is just too brilliant to be good. It'll be a hit for sure.
Current takes on homophobia in gaming
From Current TV, we're happy to bring you that rarest of delights: Reporting on gaming from a non-gaming outlet that's reasoned, competent and (wonder of wonders) well-researched. The story of GayGamer is told by those who breathe life into the site, showing not only why they're an important part of gaming culture, but what drove them to stick together in the first place. You can find it right after the jump.The only downside is that the section on homophobia makes the community look so bad; but honestly, it's only bashing those of us that deserve it. ... You know what? We're kicking homophobes out of "us." We're officially making them "them." Sorry guys. Leave your fake guitars with Shelia on the way out.
Make a Resistance 2 commercial, win 1000
Here's an interesting offer for our UK readers. Current, in conjunction with PlayStation UK, is offering a £1000 prize for amateur videomakers to craft a commercial for Resistance 2. The ad must be based on the theme of "invasion." It appears that not only will the winner get the cash, but the ad will actually air on television sets throughout the UK. For hardcore Resistance fans, this is clearly the opportunity of a lifetime.Visit Current to find out more.
