DataTransfer
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Samsung says its new 8K TV chips will eliminate bezels
A simple chip could help bring 8K TVs into the mainstream and make them more awesome at the same time. Samsung has unveiled a single display driver IC chip with enough bandwidth (4 Gbps) to allow true 8K images to be transmitted to 8K display panels without the need for other components. That will eliminate the need for a bezel (where electronics are normally hidden), allowing for true all-display TV sets.
Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter unite to simplify data transfers
Four of the biggest technology companies are banding together to make it easier for users to download and transfer their data between services. Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Twitter formally announced The Data Transfer Project (DTP) today, an open-source initiative to create new tools that "enable people to freely move their information across the web," Damien Kieran, Data Protection Officer at Twitter explained. It's early days, but the group has published a white paper that details its vision for an easier, more flexible "data portability ecosystem." The group says it wants an open dialogue with developers and users alike moving forward.
Facebook and Microsoft are building a huge trans-Atlantic data cable
Microsoft and Facebook today have announced a partnership to build a massive underwater data cable connecting the US to Europe, an effort that'll help the two internet giants better move data back and forth around the world. The cable, dubbed "MAREA," should be ready by October 2017 and will have an insane estimated data capacity of 160Tbps, making it the highest-capacity subsea cable to ever cross the Atlantic.
Danish researchers achieve fastest single-laser data transfer speeds ever
Looking for wicked fast internet? You may want to move to Denmark: researchers in DTU Photonics' High-Speed Optical Communications Group (HSOC) have set a new world record for single-transmitter data transfer. Using a new kind of optical fiber, the team was able to achieve transfer speeds of 43 terabits per second. Not familiar with bit-based statistics? Try this: that's more than five 1TB HDDs worth of data moved in less than one second. So, fast. The record was set using only a single laser transmitter, but faster speeds can (and have) been obtained using setups with hundreds of lasers. You can see the group's official announcement at the source link below, assuming you can read North Germanic languages. [Shutterstock / Kubais]
Microsoft Research team shatters data sorting record, wrenches trophy from Yahoo
Bruise inducing high-fives, anyone? They're handing them out in Redmond, according to one mildly injured researcher, after breaking a data sorting record Yahoo set in 2009. The ruckus surrounds a benchmark called MinuteSort, which measures how much data can be sorted in 60 seconds. Microsoft's Distributed Systems group utilized a new file system architecture, dubbed Flat Datacenter Storage, over a full bisection bandwidth network to burn through the competition. Not only did the nine-person crew best the old record nearly by a factor of three, it gave itself a handicap -- sorting 1,401 GB of data at 2 GB/s over a remote file system, forcing the system to crunch data at a slower speed than the technique is capable of. It's not all about bragging rights, however, Bing has its eye on the newfangled file system in hopes of boosting its RPM. Microsoft suspects the tech could also pick up the pace of machine learning and churn through large data sets in a jiffy. You can catch Microsoft Research's detailed explanation in all its glory at the source. Update: Commenter Mark Streich points out that while 2 GB/s may sound fast, it's certainly not speedy enough to sort 1,401 gigabytes in a single minute. To achieve that performance, simultaneous input and output speeds could hit 2GB/s on each computer used.
Nintendo, Boingo bring free airport WiFi to 3DS, commuter rage to slightly dip
Know what could save you from that inevitable bout of holiday travel-induced rage? Free WiFi on your 3DS, that's what. Let's be real, you and a few million others are about to be stuck waiting on a tarmac somewhere or suffocating in a boarding area throng of weary travelers. So, if you've got Nintendo's latest portable handy, you'll at least have a free internet connection to latch onto, courtesy of Boingo. The company's recently announced an agreement with the Big N to make its service free of charge to users across 42 of our nation's airports. You'll be able to take advantage of the gratis goods once your console receives a scheduled firmware update, due to roll out today. Now if that doesn't get you in a festive spirit, you're probably just a mean, green 'ol Grinch -- or a PSP owner.
PSA: 3DS firmware update goes live, upgrades camera
Nintendo's 3DS update had been dragging its feet, but it's got its act together, sneaking out to devices a day earlier than expected. It will add both 3D video-recording and DLC capabilities to the handheld, although there's been no confirmation yet of the Hulu Plus feature promised back in October. According to Joystiq, there's now a new Nintendo Zone to interact with when connected to certain WiFi hotspots and a host of new "accomplishments" to unlock on StreetPass. Users are reporting that the update is rolling out now -- it may be worth booting up that guilty Black Friday purchase for a look-see.
3DS system update pushed back to December 8th, Nintendo confirms
November is just about over and 3DS users are still without that firmware update announced last month. They needn't worry, though, because Nintendo says it's on the way. In a statement posted to its site yesterday, the company confirmed that the refresh "is in the final stages of internal testing," and that it will be released by December 8th -- not the end of November, as previously indicated. When it finally hits, users will be able to record 3D video, access new StreetPass games, and transfer data across their 3DS systems. These all sound like good things, but they'll only come to those who wait.
PlayStation Vita gets a content management app, plays nice with PS3 and PC
Worried your PlayStation Vita is going to be so full of repurchased PSP content that you won't be be able to store it all? Yeah, neither are we -- but if you want another place to keep your Vita's picture, video, music and game content, Sony says your PC and PS3 will do nicely. An application page on the Japanese PlayStation website details a Vita app that lets users transfer data between the three platforms, noting that content can be purchased on the PC or PS3, and then transferred to the Vita for use later. Gamers looking to save scratch on that not-so-optional memory card will be able to use this content sharing feature to get the most out of whatever size storage they can afford. Sure, 4GB of storage the cheapest Vita memory card offers isn't ideal, but at least Sony is throwing you a bone to make it work.
Sony HD-PG5U USB 3.0 drive puts family first, works best with other Sonys
Plug Sony's new 180g portable drive into your PC and you'll get decent USB 3.0 storage plus some preloaded software that claims to accelerate transfers over USB 2.0. Underwhelmed? Us too. But wait -- hook this baby up to some of that other Sony bric-a-brac you've got lying around and it'll unlock a bunch of extra features. It can record broadcasts straight off a Bravia TV, for example, so you can watch them back later on another device. It'll also hoover up footage directly from a new HandyCam (such as the DCR-SX21E or DCR-SR21), removing the need for a PC. And, when you're done, you can connect the HD-PG5U to your PS3 and watch all your AVCHD videos back via the Filmy app -- again, no PC required. Now, if Sony had done something similar with the MemoryStick, we might have turned down the hate. Full details in the PR.
DisplayPort 1.2 receives final VESA blessing, grows into a real standard
VESA might've been a bit tardy with finalizing it, but DisplayPort v1.2 is now all official and it comes with an impressive tally of numbers to get your attention. Doubling the data throughput of v1.1a (from 10.8Gbps to 21.6Gbps), the latest version will be able to support multiple monitors via only a single output cable, allowing you to daisy-chain up to four 1920 x 1200 monitors, for example. It can also perform bi-directional data transfer, which will permit USB hubs, webcams, and touchscreen panels integrated into displays to communicate over the same cable as the video signal. Backwards compatibility with older peripherals is assured, but you'll naturally need a v1.2-capable computer to exploit all this newfound goodness. You'll find the full PR after the break.
USB 3.0 data transfer demonstrated at IDF
Now that you know everything there is to know about the forthcoming rendition of your favorite port, there's just one little question left to be answered: how does it perform in the real world? Fresco Logic demonstrated a data transfer using the newfangled technology at IDF 2008 via a "self-developed software development platform." The results? Just over 350MBps. Not bad for a dry run, huh?
IBM creates a chip-sized supercomputer
Good news, everybody! Those super-geniuses over at IBM have whipped up a new form of CPU transfer which utilizes pulses of light instead of electricity to move data between cores on a chip. The new technology -- which is one-hundred times faster than current speeds -- is called silicon nanophotonics, and if implemented, could downsize supercomputers to laptop stature. The invention is unhindered by common problems with electrical chips, such as overheating and breakdown of data on short trips, allowing signals to pass unmolested over greater distances. Using this process, data can be moved a few centimeters, while requiring one-tenth as much power, resulting in lower operational costs for supercomputers. Will Green, a researcher at IBM, says that the company's creation will, "Be able to have hundreds or thousands of cores on a chip," and will result in huge speed boosts. Unfortunately, the project is on track to be carried out in 10 to 12 years, which leaves a lot of time to ponder if the chips will play Doom.
Researchers utilize electricity to move magnetically-stored data
While Fujitsu works overtime in order to boost hard drive capacity by 500-percent in just two years, researchers at the University of Hamburg in Germany are devising a method to move magnetically-stored data around a HDD "a hundred times faster than currently possible." Guido Meier and colleagues are purportedly using "nanosecond pulses of electric current to push magnetic regions along a wire at 110-meters per second," which easily trumps today's method of using comparatively slow spinning discs to access data. Additionally, their vision of the next-generation hard drive will sport fewer mechanical parts in order to lessen the "wear and tear" that existing units face. Notably, the idea behind the creation was actually conjured up by an IBM employee in 2004, but if the Germans crafting the current prototype have anything to say about it, said idea could turn into reality sooner than later.
Rumor: Cable to transfer HDD data to Elite 360
True, the rumored black Xbox 360 Elite has yet to be officially confirmed, but we figured we'd add some more rumor logs onto our fanboy fire. Yesterday, Ben over at ars technica expressed his concern for how to transfer HDD data from his old 360 to the new Elite 360 if he were to purchase one. Not soon after Ben received a tip from a person who works at a large video game distributor (who wanted to remain anonymous) and divulged an answer to the data transfer problem ... an included cable. The tipster went on to say that,"MS has told us that the data will be transferred via some sort of cable that will be included with the unit. The cable will also be included w/ the 120GB drive that will be sold separately (price TBD)."Again, this is a whole basket full of rumor berries, but if it were true would it sway your opinion on a new Elite 360 purchase? A HDD to HDD data transfer cable would be a great accessory anyway and with the release of a 120GB HDD one would think it'd be a no brainer. Or maybe we're all just geniuses.[Via Digg]
Matsushita demonstrates data beaming with visible light
Infrared hasn't exactly taken the wireless data transfer world by storm, and while it seems to still flank the sides of modern smartphones and the occasional laptop, we can't exactly recall the last time we found it particularly useful in a public setting. Matsushita is out to solve the data beaming quandary, and it's looking to add a little light to the situation all the while with a visible twist. The technology allows data to be beamed from transmitter to receiver via visible light, and aside from purportedly streaming information along at "optical fiber speeds," it can also pull double duty as an indoor lighting source if you're short on lamps. The firm is hoping to get the standard ratified soon, and ideally, would like to see kiosks set up to beam information onto consumer / client receivers by just walking up to the light source, pairing up their device, and walking away happy. Additionally, this system could have a leg up on other wireless alternatives in sensitive areas such as hospitals, as the Visible Light Communications (VLC) creation won't interfere with pulse-makers and other medical equipment. Now, how long before this stuff hits the handset market?[Via Gearfuse]
