Technology

Self-replicating robots are no longer the stuff of science fiction.

Scientists at the Cornell University in Ithaca, New York have created small robots that can build copies of themselves.

Toshiba today introduced a triple-layer HD DVD-Rom disc which boasts a data capacity of 45GB, enough to record 12 hours of high-definition movies.

The newly unveiled disc is certain to reignite the battle between Toshiba's HD DVD format and rival Sony's Blu-ray technology.

It adds a high-end option to Toshiba's previous HD DVD-Rom line-up, which includes the 15GB (single-layer, single-sided) and 30GB (dual-layer, single-sided) discs.

Telematics and navigation systems over the past year have moved toward using Bluetooth as a wireless link to a driver's mobile phone, which in turn offers wireless connectivity, according to findings from ABI Research.
"The automotive industry regards Bluetooth as an acceptable compromise because users get their network connectivity, while automakers do not have to deal with installing costly cellular radios, or the hassles of managing customer accounts or dealing with wireless carriers," said ABI Research senior analyst, Dan Benjamin.

Thnk ur gr8 @ txt msgng? You may think you're saving time cutting out all those pesky vowels when sending text messages to your buddies, but Gordon Hill, a 93-year-old Morse code specialist, just might prove you wrong.

Soon customers of BellSouth's DSL service will be able to chat face to face with their friends and family over the Internet. The regional phone company announced yesterday that it is trialing a video chat service that allows customers with a webcam and microphone to chat through the BellSouth instant messaging client.

Call me old fashioned, but I think I'd rather stick with the kind of IM where no one has to know that I am sitting at my computer in my pajamas.

Today, almost everybody in the developed world interacts with personal computers in some form or another. We use them at home and at work, for entertainment, information, and as tools to leverage our knowledge and intelligence. It is pretty much assumed whenever anyone sits down to use a personal computer that it will operate with a graphical user interface. We expect to interact with it primarily using a mouse, launch programs by clicking on icons, and manipulate various windows on the screen using graphical controls. But this was not always the case.

Qualcomm on Wednesday unveiled several chips designed to underpin inexpensive cell phones with MP3 players and cameras, pitched at emerging handset markets in Latin America, India and China.

This month's Power Architecture challenge is to develop the most outlandish, outrageous chip-controlled clothing you can.

Researchers at Melbourne University are growing diamond particles on optical fibres to transmit information they say will be impossible to hack.

The diamonds, just 1/1000 of a millimetre in size, send information through a single photon of light instead of the billions of photons found in an ordinary light beam.

Research fellow James Rabeau compares the technology to flicking a torch to send a message to a friend across a room. Light from the torch can be seen by others in the room, because there are billions of photons, and the message can be de-coded.

NATO signed a contract worth over euro20 million (U.S. $25 million) Thursday with a consortium including European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co. and U.S.-based Northrop Grumman Corp. to develop a cutting edge ground surveillance system.

The contract addresses issues leading to the design and development phase of a high-tech radar system to be mounted in Airbus planes and unmanned drones so allied forces can monitor ground movements from the air.