Category Archives: General Information

Solar Power Is Moving Up!

Scientists have always researched into alternative ways to do away with “unclean” energy for cleaner ones. Clean energy or renewable energy, being energy derived from natural sources without destruction to the environment that comes with producing energy nowadays. Think the batteries in your smart devices that poison the earth if not disposed of carefully.

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The solar power panels have always been sought for an alternative way to harness energy. Why? The sun is abundant and will always be there, as long as there is life on earth. But the most efficiency we ever got from this form of power generation was 17%. This has changed now. Sol Voltaics, a Swedish start-up has seen a breakthrough that will help ensure change.

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They claim to have created a film that can boost solar power efficiency to 50%. This is good news for both us, the end users, and mother nature. One thing is certain, the more we look, the more we find. Soon, we might just have a renewable energy source that will make the “poisonous” batteries we have all around us now obsolete, amongst other things. We might never need to charge our mobile devices any longer, it will charge itself by fuelling on the sun. See video below!

We say well done to the researchers of this discovery and hope for an even better result on clean energy in the future!

Watch YouTube Without Ads! – Updated

We all know those times when you want to show your friends, or loved ones a video on youtube and then there is an advert. You would be very lucky to get those ads you can skip after 4 seconds, if you are less lucky, you get that 14 seconds video that you just have to wait for!

Well this could finally be a thing of the past without breaking the bank. One word; Adblock.

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Adblock is a portmanteau of the words advert and block, and it means what it looks like, it is a “software” that blocks ads. Some websites actually ask for a premium so that those annoying adverts will stop holding up your entertainment. However, recently many tech companies are researching into making an adblocker to stop them all. This has been slowly introduced into some web browsers and one of these is Opera.

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Without futher ado, Opera web browser has cracked it finally. No more adverts on most websites, and with time, we only think this process will be perfected. So go on here, download the new opera browser by choosing your device, install it, turn on adblock, and browse and watch with freedom and peace! At least until websites learn to counter these adblockers.

Update: Websites are fighting hard to make sure they can bypass adblockers. However, so are the adblockers themselves. You might notice it is a continuous battle between the two sides, but all in all, adblockers still work and get updated regularly to give you that stress free browsing, or entertainment!

Pixium Helps The Blind To “See”

Whichever way you look at it, technology has always helped us learn more about the environment, and in the long run, help us defeat some of our impediments, pushing us to some times live longer! Of such innovation came a company: Pixium.

Pixium – founded by José-Alain Sahel, a scientist and ophthalmologist- has created an artificial “retina”: IRIS II – to help the blind regain their sight

IRIS II mimics the mechanism our natural eyes use to make out shapes in black and white.

Picture courtesy www.pixium-vision.com

According to the makers’ website “The above chart is an illustration of the rehabilitation process where patients progressively identify shapes. It is not indicative of final outcome.”

Also the video below is also an illustration of how the device would be implanted.

We at thecomputerpotato think extremely savant research such as this is a blessing to earth, and hope to see more people giving up their valuable time to make the world a better place!

Making Your Own Phone Is The Future?

We talked about Project Ara a while back! Since then, like always in the tech age, things have changed and the world has advanced even more. Google has changed its parent name to Alphabet and made Google a division of that. Project Ara has also changed leadership and changed the focus of how the project would take off.

 

Instead of a full modular phone, the screen and processor (brain in the phone) will not be changeable but the rest of the phone will be. “We’ve integrated the phone technology in the frame. That frees up space for modules that will create and integrate new functionality that you cannot get on your smartphone today,”  Said the project’s lead engineer, recently at a conference!

The good news is that the project is definitely moving forward, and we have started to see some devices trying to incorporate the idea. See below

The LG G5 lets you swap the battery pack and add a camera grip in seconds.

However, the Alphabet’s Ara wants to do more. As of the time of this article, the prototype is aiming at swapping things like a secondary e-paper display, a high-resolution camera, loud speakers, expandable storage, or even a kickstand. And it is proposed to be out commercially by end of 2017!

In another news, a new research is making screens that can be remodulated just like a rubik cube! Crazy!

 

We say good work to everyone involved in this. This futuristic idea will definitely change the standard we have today and make the same devices more useful to different people!

 

Siri Has Got A Sister And She Seems More Intelligent!

“Hey Siri, did you know you now have a younger sibling?” Siri might not give you an answer to that but it does have a sibling, called Viv, and everyone is talking about it. Viv was debuted weeks ago in New York and it seems to know how to do a lot more when  asked for assistance!

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Viv was made to be different from Siri because it doesn’t just spew out internet search results at you, or perform basic tasks, it actually works out what you want and help you get things done! The very makers of Apple’s Siri sat down to create a new virtual assistant – as they are now called- and came up with a software that can rewrite itself to find solutions. Another step towards the personification of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

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You can see a demonstration of Viv at work in the video below. if you are more interested in the full talk, you can restart the video from the beginning.

According to one of Viv’s and Siri’s makers: “We’re going to use this technology to breathe life into the inanimate objects and devices of our life through conversation,” This statement sounds scary at first, especially with all the talk of AI taking over the world or our jobs. However we believe this types of technology, when perfected, can be more beneficial than harmful to help machines, i.e electronic devices, better understand and represent our needs!

Amazon Dash Just Got “Dashier”!

You might have heard of the Amazon Dash. It is a system to help making shopping on Amazon a tad easier. Now the Dash has got a new cousin, the AWS IoT Button! A mouthful I know, by the time you finish calling its name though, it would have completed its task!

This button unlike the Amazon Dash can be used to do any task programmable rather than just shopping on Amazon!

According to its makers “You can click the button to unlock or start a car, open your garage door, call a cab, call your spouse or a customer service representative, track the use of common household chores, medications or products, or remotely control your home appliances.”

An amazing device for an already connected home! Click on image below to read more!

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Fancy A Virtual Butler In A Car?

Literally every electronic “toy” out there is being upgraded with some kind of virtual  reality or augmented reality. We are nearly there people! Those Sci-Fi movies that made you marvel with futuristic gadgets are materialising with years of hard work pushing scientific advancement all around us!

Games, movies, phones, TVs, e.t.c. are all being upgraded with headsets that transport you to experience the action as if you were right in the middle of it. It is no surprise cars are also being made smarter. In fact at the time of writing of this article, self driving cars and vehicles are being tested in many countries and is definitely looking more like reality!

Bentley luxury cars – you either want one or own one – has showcased what they call a virtual butler for cars! It not only pops out at your like in the movies, it also takes command on where to drive you to and what to help you with in your luxurious automobile! A thing of beauty!

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In no time, this will be the norm, at first in expensive cars, and someday a standard in cars!

Another step closer to the Internet Of Things!

 

Want To Use Google Maps And You Have No Internet Or Data?

A tip for all you phone navigation dependent people! Imagine you are going somewhere you know you have no data or don’t want to use any of your precious data for navigation.

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A genius (in our books), Rob LeFebvre, has created a step by step guide on how to do this! You will be getting around in no time with no data! Assuming you know where you are going and have WiFi before leaving for the outdoors!

Click here to read!

 

A New Robot “Friend” That Can Call Your Friends

Without further ado we present the RoboHon! Sharp’s new gadget!

Well, not only is it the weirdest looking  cute “toy”, it walks and talks! And yeah it is a personal assistant and a full smart phone!

Nothing more can be said here! Ohh yeah, it has a projector!

For a mere £1300, this device can be yours if and when it comes out anywhere else save Japan.

We say this step closer to getting robots into our homes!

 

Diabetics Can Relax If This “Smart Patch” Becomes Reality

Ask any diabetic and the first thing they tell you is that it is a pain to manage! Why? They have to constantly prick themselves with needles to check their blood sugar, but it doesn’t stop there. Some of them have to prick even more to inject their insulin, which helps reduce the blood sugar back to a normal level.

Well all that pricking could be over if the researchers in South Korea develop what they claim to have created! A “smart patch”!

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The Patch Being Peeled Off Skin

The patch works with sensors embedded into its thin layer. The sensors tests the wearer’s sweat to determine blood sugar levels. If high, the patch delivers a drug, Metaformin, through tiny needles to help regulate the blood sugar back to normal. Simple right? Well in theory and on paper yes. However, there is a lot more to do to get this technology out commercially to sufferers of this disease. So no, these patches won’t be at the local pharmacy just yet.

There comes a time when technology does really help save lives, and we at the Computer Potato like to write about technology that literally save or change lives. This smart patch is one of many to come and we say the applications of this technology is promising! It can be applied to many other blood related ailments, if developed!

We think this is a step closer to another milestone in the advancement of medical diagnosis and “dispensary” and we say more power to the efforts of those putting their time into such an innovative way to help humankind!