armtechcon2013
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Well Cow health monitor lives in Bessie's stomach, measures indigestion
Ever wonder how hot it gets inside of a cow's stomach? Neither have we, but if we ever had cause to find out, we can thankfully now do so wirelessly. Front and center in ARM's Internet of Things display at ArmTechCon this week we found Well Cow, a bovine health monitor that bobs around your cattle's rumen -- the largest of a cow's four stomach compartments. The sensor-laden pill lasts between 80-100 days inside the animal, transmitting pH and temperature data to a Bluetooth collar around the beast's neck. Data can then be retrieved using either an Android device or the company's own PC peripheral. We gave the app a quick whirl and were able to quickly discern the room's temperature and general air acidity with the touch of a button. (There appears to be a no cows rule on the show floor.) It sounds like an unappetizing ordeal, but the setup actually prevents indigestion. By monitoring a cow's stomach acidity, farmers can catch digestive problems early, and adjust the animal's feed or medical needs before it becomes an issue. Micromanaging the animal's diet could also help maximize milk production. An odd thing to find in ARM's booth? Absolutely, but it certainly highlights the creative potential of the company's MBed development platform and what it could bring to the Internet of Cows Things.
HP hopes to make internet more sustainable with three new Moonshot servers
You don't think about it while flipping through your Instagram feed, but your social escapades generate a lot of heat. "We now have to decide if we want to position data centers near the arctic circle to take advantage of cooling," joked HP's Martin Fink, CTO and Director of HP Labs during ArmTechCon's keynote Tuesday. He's talking about the heavy footprint of the internet, and how HP's enterprise customers are complaining that they don't have the room or power to meet the needs of the future. HP's solution, of course, is Moonshot -- its low power server technology. Moonshot promises to fill the needs of the information superhighway with less power, less space and less complexity. The new infrastructure hasn't seen much play outside of HP's own labs, but that's about to change: the company has announced three new ARM-based Moonshot cartridges, available next year with hardware from Calxeda, Texas Instruments and Applied Micro.
