m13
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Cameo CEO favorably compares Web3 boom to the colonization of the Americas
When constructing a metaphor about scooping up a good opportunity, perhaps it's unwise to invoke historical events inextricably linked with genocide.
LG M13 LTE modem hands-on
We've just busted through LG's glass wall that protected its M13 LTE modem, but alas we're still no closer to deciphering how good or portable this little 4G connect-a-gadget is. The first thing to note is that although it looks like a big stand with an embedded LG mobile handset, that's all for looks and in fact it's just a big chunky modem -- make of that "styling" what you will. Gallery below gives you some closer shots of the device, which was a plastic prototype glued to the table, as well as LG's Vd13 USB dongle. Go enjoy! %Gallery-82014%
LG's LTE-packing M13 spied in the flesh, we still can't tell what it is
It's totally understandable that we couldn't figure out what this LTE / EV-DO dual-mode thingy from LG was when it cleared the FCC; they had the choicest documentation under lockdown and we couldn't make heads or tails of what we were reading apart from a cryptic line-art diagram of the bottom and a few RF tests. What's odd, though, is that we still can't figure out what it is -- and this time, we're looking right at the blasted thing. It supports Band XIII LTE, which would be Verizon's 700MHz spectrum (wink, wink), but seriously, we have no idea what it's supposed to do. It looks kind of like a tiny netbook with a Viewty embedded in the top, but it doesn't look like the phone pops out; we suppose it could be the fanciest external modem ever made, and the 3.5mm jack suggests that it'd probably have some media functionality when it's disconnected from your PC. Any other guesses? %Gallery-81785%
MIT builds battery from bacterial virus, humans to power machines by 2012
We've been tracking MIT professor Angela Belcher's attempt to build batteries and nano-electronics from viruses since 2006. Scientifically speaking, the so-called "virus" is actually a bacteriophage, a virus that preys only on bacteria while leaving humans of diminishing scientific knowledge alone to doubt that claim. Now, in a new report co-authored by Belcher, MIT research documents the construction of a lithium-ion battery (pictured after the break) with the help of a biological virus dubbed M13. M13 acts as a "biological scaffold" that allows carbon nanotubes and bits of iron phosphate to attach and form a network for conducting electricity. Specifically, MIT used the genetically engineered material to create the battery's negatively charged anode and positively charged cathode. Best of all, MIT's technique can be performed at, or below room temperature which is important from a manufacturing perspective -- a process that MIT claims will be "cheap and environmentally benign." Already MIT has constructed a virus-battery about the size of that found in a watch to turn on small lights in an MIT lab. Belcher claims that just a third of an ounce (about 10 grams) of the viral battery material could power an iPod for 40 hours. In time and with enough effort MIT expects to scale the technology to power electronic vehicles. Remember, when the time comes choose the red pill.[Via Scientific American, Thanks James]
