Challenges and problems of "SpaceLiner" Mach 24 hypersonic flight

SpaceLiner animation, 2009. CC 3.0

It is being reported that a futuristic vehicle named "SpaceLiner" that could fly at Mach 24 (24 times the speed of sound) and could carry 50 passengers from Europe to Australia in 90 minutes, would be available by 2050. The concept was initiated by German Aerospace Center in 2005 and it was supported by European Space Agency since 2009. The current concept involves launching the vehicle vertically like the space shuttles, separating the plane from the booster at an altitude of 80 kilometres and the plane glides towards the destination for landing at 25200 km/h.

Technology apps for you

Do you own Apple iOS devices, Android smartphones, Samsung Galaxy or any other smart devices? Then you have a wide variety of apps waiting to use in your daily life. With the advancement in technology, tons of new applications are being released on the app store everyday. To use these applications, all you need is to own a supported device. If you are short of money and looking to fund a device then consider cash payday as one of your financial options. The following is a list of a few latest technology apps.

Radioplayer: Radioplayer app, developed by UK Radioplayer Ltd, helps you access all the BBC services. This is one of the easiest and simplest radio apps till today; you can just extract stations and presets them just with a quick tap. You will have an option listening live radio, catch up various kinds of programs and browse them. The following are a few features of this app:

• You can also include other radio stations like magic, kiss, talkSPORT and so on
• Can save recommended stations
• You can access everything from news to sports

Technology TV: Technology TV app, developed by Promoterr, is a premium channel that plays the latest technology content curated from the Internet. With this app you will find the latest information, news, reviews of any kind of gadgets like PCs, laptops, TV, smartphones and so on. The best part of this app is the videos are being played automatically, you don't need to press the button manually to play. The following are a few features of this app:

• Easy to use and navigate
• With a single touch on the screen you can switch to full screen mode
• The playlist automatically loops so the contents are always new

First Tech: First Tech, developed by First Tech Federal Credit Union, is a financial application to help you stay connected to your personal finances wherever you are. This application helps you to access bank transactions at any time and also help in locating the nearest ATM center. You can retrieve the transaction history in a matter of seconds and know how and where you are spending more. The following are a few features of this app:

• You can search nearest branch and get contact details
• Transfer funds from one account to another
• You can make deposits with the help of e-deposit 

Tech News: Tech News, developed by Baris Efe, is an application which provides latest news on technology, mobiles and gadgets. There are many resources where you can find information from various sites, some of them include– Geek, Digg, PC World, Slashdot and so on. To make you work easier with this app, you will also be provided with FAQ’s and its answers. The following are a few features of this app:

• Option to update newspaper news online
• Can show both the mobile and desktop view
• Favorites 

About the author:
This guest post was contributed by Sophie, financial guest blogger from Manchester, UK. Find out more about her finance related blogs @financeport

Explaining Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (MRAM)

What is MRAM?

MRAM is known as Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory. It is a different type of memory from the usual Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) and Static Random Access Memory (SRAM). The very fundamental working principle of MRAM is to store the data in a pair of magnetic storage elements. One end is a permanent magnet while the other end can be varied to be parallel or anti-parallel to the permanent end and this will produce two types of configurations that can represent logical '0' and '1' for computational purposes.


What are the differences between DRAM, SRAM and MRAM?

Dynamic random access memory (DRAM), as the term "dynamic" suggests, needs to be refreshed at least 16 times per second, no matter the stored bit has changed or retains the same value. DRAM can only hold the data for at most 64 milliseconds before refreshing it, as defined by the universal standard. The main structure of DRAM is the capacitors which gives the RAM its dynamic properties. Capacitors can be charged and discharged quickly so the capacitor charge must be refreshed periodically before the current charge depletes which will produce memory errors. The structure of DRAM is very simple, one transistor and one capacitor are required for one bit, and this allows DRAM to be very high in density. The low cost per unit memory makes DRAM the ideal RAM for consumers, most computers and mobile phones are using DRAM as the main RAM.

Top 3 technology predictions for mobile in 2013

Samsung Galaxy Note, CC 3.0 license.

2012 is going to end and we have seen interesting trends in the world of mobile computing this year like mobile usage closing in on desktop usage, Qualcomm becoming the next Intel, mini tablets going mainstream and Apple's iPad usage starting to decline. 2013 will be another year of mobile dominance and here are my top three predictions for next year.


1.  Intel will start to use its ARM license, most probably to improve its Atom chips instead of manufacturing its own ARM-based chips.

Intel already has ARM license several years ago but does not have any plans to use it. Intel has been focusing on its Atom chips and has bring itself to the mobile industry in 2012 with the Intel-powered Motorola RAZR i. ARM still has the upper hand due to its popularity and exceptional power efficiency. To challenge ARM's position, Intel has to improve its Atom chips' efficiency and this is where ARM license can be useful. Intel can use additional ARM cores in its mobile processors like how NVIDIA uses them in Tegra 3 to improve battery life or redesign its existing Atom SoCs for better power efficiency like how Apple custom designed its A6 processor based on ARM's A15 architecture. Together with Intel's new plans to manufacture its Atom SoCs using the 22nm process and 3D Tri-Gate transistors which are being used in the production of Ivy Bridge chips, Intel can be the next big player in the mobile processor industry, alongside Qualcomm and NVIDIA.


2.  NFC will not become the mainstream in mobile payment in 2013, or at least until 2015.

NFC usage in mobile payment is directly affected by service providers like Google Wallet, PayPal, Square and mobile carriers. PayPal had been experimenting with NFC payment solutions and finally ditched it. The implementation of mobile payment using NFC require the cooperation from the carriers and this makes adopting NFC as the main payment method quite difficult. For example, Verizon doesn't allow Google Wallet to use NFC in its devices because it needs access to a "secure element" which is not available on all devices. Google also understands the complications of making NFC as the standard payment method and that's why Google will introduce the physical Google Wallet card which will debut soon as the alternative payment method to NFC.


3.  2013 will be the "real" first year for phablets with at least 7 phablets to go on sale.

There isn't any definitions to describe the term "phablets" and I'm referring phones that have screen size between 5 to 6 inches as "phablets". 2012 is the year for mini tablets (about 7 inches) to go mainstream and 2013 will be the year for phones and tablets to bridge the gap. Mini tablet can go mainstream because it is lighter and more portable than its larger counterpart while maintaining the same user experience. Phablet can also go mainstream because it can eliminate the need to own both tablets and phones while experiencing the same visual fidelity on a tablet. Besides, you do not need to worry about those times when you remembered to charge your phone but not your tablet as well as those times when you brought your tablet together with you during an outing but left your phone in your house and vice versa.

Why Google+ Communities is still a half-baked feature?

Google+ logo, used from public domain.

Google has introduced a new feature to its ambitious social network, Google+, to further enhance its interest-based social network. Known as Google+ Communities, it is designed to bring people with common interests together more easily than the Circles concept. It is totally different to Facebook Groups, it is an online hub to gather everybody including friends, relatives and strangers in one place to discuss topics of interest, latest trends and have a face-to-face chat using Google+ hangout, one of the best features in Google+.

Your posts, especially the ones that are related to specific topics, might not suit everybody and even might annoy somebody in your circles. For example, if you are a PS3 gamer, your posts might be classified as "annoying" by your photography friends, PC gaming, Android and iOS mobile gaming friends. The new Google+ Communities feature has solved this issue by providing a specific community, in this case, a PS3 gaming community for you to post and discuss all the PS3 stuffs in one place without annoying your circles.

This new feature looks amazing and should improve your experience on Google+, but unfortunately, it is still not on par with the usual Google+ standard.

NASA to launch new Mars rover in 2020 to prepare for returning Martian samples back to Earth

Mars image, NASA, used from public domain.

NASA has announced plans for new Mars missions in 2020. The rover's chassis and landing system will be based on the $2.5 billion Curiosity rover and the proven design will bring down the cost of the 2020 mission to about $1.5 billion. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said, "with this next mission, we're ensuring America remains the world leader in the exploration of the Red Planet, while taking another significant step toward sending humans there in the 2030s."

The latest rover on Mars, the Curiosity rover, is mainly designed to measure the radiation levels on Mars, determine the habitability of humans on Mars and investigate the chemical composition found on Mars instead of finding signs of life on Mars. The most effective way to confirm the exisitence of life on Mars is to send the carefully selected samples back to Earth for more accurate analysis and data. The 2020 rover should help prepare NASA for the purpose although the precise details of the mission have not been drafted out and will be determined by a scientific team earliest by next year. The scientific instruments on board will be based on the best combination from all the instruments proposed by all parties, just like the Curiosity rover.

Sample returning is the top priority of the report from Mars Program Planning Group (MPPG) and this will test drive NASA's ability to send humans to Mars in 2030s since sending samples back to Earth is technically similar to sending astronauts to Mars and returning them safely. The report suggests that humans will be involved in the sample-returning process: a rover will launch the samples into deep space, the astronauts abroad the Orion's capsule will intercept the samples in deep space and make sure that the transfer process will not contaminate the samples, then the astronauts will return the samples back to Earth.