Apple iPhone 6 announcement just hours away

Apple's big announcement later today (10 a.m., 09 September US PDT) is universally expected to include the iPhone 6. Both 4.7-inch & 5.5-inch models are expected.

On a personal note: the suggested relocation of the sleep/wake button from the top to the side will represent the loss of the only feature I miss from my iPhone 4.

All the hype:

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/mobiles/will-the-apple-iphone-6-be-a-crowdpleaser-or-a-flop-20140909-10ef4e.html

And a slightly different view:

http://theconversation.com/all-kneel-at-the-temple-of-apples-latest-technology-31364?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+9+September+2014+-+1905&utm_content=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+9+September+2014+-+1905+CID_0f8224f68c78a5f4abcc34b3e46d8583&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=All%20kneel%20at%20the%20temple%20of%20Apples%20latest%20technology / hype Apple's product launch Wednesday Australian time new survey pricey iPhone 6 consumers Cupertino California smartwatch smart watch iWatch payment app feature iWallet health app eBay rumor rumour rumoured specs most expensive mass-produced smartphone market mobile wallet Visa MasterCard other credit companies connected wearable device iWatch Health app HealthKit developer tools track fitness exercise routine Samsung GearFit Fitbit sync smartphone wearable devices services launch near-field communication NFC payments tap-and-go payment cards Australian consumers contactless payments PayPass Paywave large screen iPhone L phablet iPhone 6L 6 Plus Samsung Galaxy Note larger screen functionality portability ease of use user experience software update iOS 8 Apple CEO chief executive Tim Cook predictive text respond to notifications unlock device new messaging features family user accounts connectivity smart devices hardware upgrades camera processor speakers wake/sleep button right-hand edge near the top top edge USB cable with a reversible plug longer battery life higher screen resolution more flash storage 128 GB /

Carbon fiber wheels cut weight & boost efficiency (video)

Carbon fibre wheels are stronger & lighter to reduce:

● Wheel flex for improved handling & control — see the video above.

● Unsprung weight for improved handling, traction, & ride.

● Gyroscopic torque — see the video above, around the 6:20 mark.

● Rotating mass — a moving object has kinetic energy. In a vehicle, this energy is provided by the motor. Less energy requirement means more distance for the same cost. A lighter vehicle accelerates faster, & is more efficient, because it requires less energy from the motor to increase its speed, & so its kinetic energy. Unlike many other parts of a moving car, the wheels also have rotational energy. Once again, this energy comes from the engine. Weight saved in any part of a car improves its performance & efficiency. Weight saved in a lighter wheel improves performance & efficiency as for any other part of a vehicle, plus reduced rotational energy.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1094265_carbon-fiber-wheels-proposed-to-cut-weight-boost-efficiency / probably don't think about your car's wheels heavy rotated tires change spare heaviness fuel efficiency energy low density light carbon fiber wheels improving efficiency improving performance lightweight weight wheels curb weight more efficient vehicle sprung mass unsprung suspension energy lower lifetime emissions less inertia hitting a bump rotational mass spinning mass Carbon Revolution Brett Gass start stop wheel light fuel electricity used increasing mileage range carbon fiber light very stiff strong racing cars prevent flex cornering expensive set of wheels cost cheap aluminum wheels economy efficiency carbon fiber wheels /

Archer fish shoots its prey (video)

Check out this amazing video of the archer fish shooting insects. Amongst the difficulties the archer fish has to overcome are: refraction at the air/water interface, which distorts the position of the insect; & the the necessary trajectory of the water stream through the air.

/ insect glow beetle fire fly firefly refraction trajectory water air aquatic river light /

And the winner is — Nevada!

Credit: Tesla/Inhabitat

Tesla has been in negotiations for several months about the site of what will be the world's largest lithium ion battery factory. Candidates included Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, & Texas. Cost will be $5 billion, $500 million of which will be provided as incentives from the chosen state.

http://www.teslamotors.com/about/press/releases/nevada-selected-official-site-tesla-battery-gigafactory

Tesla is establishing what has become known as the Gigafactory to push the price of electric vehicles (EVs) down. Price cutting is an aim of all business entities. In this particular case, it has a special purpose for Tesla's Model 3 (formerly Model E). Major design parameters are 200 mile range & $35,000 price point. To meet the Model 3 price point, EV battery price must fall by 30% [1]. Tesla's recipe for this price reduction is the Gigafactory.

Nevada won after a lengthy battle, including claims that California offered to waive certain environmental provisions [2].

To Tesla's credit, a spokesman replied, “It would be completely counter to the mission of the company to go against environmental legislation.” [3]
_______________
[1] Model E price point requires 30% reduction in EV battery cost:
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/7048/20140515/elon-musk-200-gigafactories-must-be-built-to-lower-lithium-battery-prices.htm

[2] California rumoured to offer to waive environmental rules:
http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-81059930/

[3] Tesla doesn't want environmental rules waived:
http://www.siliconbeat.com/2014/08/14/tesla-we-have-to-respect-the-integrity-of-ceqa/ / Tesla Elon Musk LiIon lithium ion battery pack charge recharge range press conference electric car Tesla Motors gigafactory Nevada state governor Brian Sandoval Carson City Project Tiger site USA Parkway Business Park Reno Tesla gigafactory San Jose Mercury News spokeswoman Liz Jarvis-Shean site preparation work Reno Tahoe Industrial Center huge plant Tesla CEO Elon Musk stay on schedule start production lithium-ion cells battery packs /

New "Dreadnought" dinosaur is the most complete specimen of a giant

Credit: Jennifer Hall/Scientific American

Dreadnought represents the most complete giant dinosaur discovered to date. "Giant"? At seven times the size of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, the term seems justified.

Most things that die are soon destroyed. Fossilisation, therefore, is a rare event. Meat is eaten by scavengers, often with bones broken up &/or moved considerable distances. Anything that's left will usually be broken down by agents of decay, such as bacteria & fungi.

Fossilization depends on some relatively rare event, usually involving rapid burial. Something small, say the size of a mouse, can be buried relatively easily. Burial of an entire animal seven times the size of a T. Rex is much less likely. Thus, fossils of large animals are usually more or less incomplete.

How did Dreadnought live? Given its size, it probably had nothing to fear from anything, even a predator like T. REx. Hence the name — dread nought — fear nothing. In feeding, that long flexible neck would have given it access to an enormous volume of plant matter. Modern day giraffes use a similar strategy on a much smaller scale.

Between imperviousness to attack & that enormous neck, Dreadnought probably spent its days planted in one spot, munching its way through all the food it could reach. After exhausting everything in reach, it would have moved a few metres & repeated.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-dreadnought-dinosaur-most-complete-specimen-of-a-giant/

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29050114 / calculated size specimens new supermassive dinosaur species paleontologist Ken Lacovara dino sauropod Dreadnoughtus schrani 25 meter long Dreadnoughtus genus name dread naught herbivores 65 tons seven times massive Tyrannosaurus rex Dreadnoughtus schrani Scientific Reports largest animals most complete fossil supermassive dinosaur insights late Jurassic giants moved grew Kristi Curry Rogers paleontologist Macalester College Minnesota sauropods Dreadnoughtuses sauropods long-necked herbivorous group dinosaurs includes apatosaurs giant dinosaur supermassive sauropods generally poorly preserved completely covered with sediment after death sediment-filled flood corpses mostly inaccessible scavengers|otherwise scatter their evolutionary relationships compare their femurs paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara Dreadnoughtus femur /

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 announced

Credit: Samsung/BusinessWeek

A few features worth noting:

● Metal/premium construction/premium product/quality feel/etc — Samsung has a record of using less glass & metal than some other manufacturers in its phones. Reviewers have been banging on about this for years. With the Note 4, Samsung has incorporated some metal into the case. One of the reasons I abandoned the iPhone 4 was its fragile glass/metal construction. Have you ever dropped a phone? Is there anyone who hasn't? If I'm carrying hundreds of dollars worth of hardware, that I depend on for a large & growing list of functions, I'd prefer something with the resilience of a basketball. That's not going to happen, but a minimum of glass, & replacing metal with shock-absorbing plastic is a good start. Better is to put it in a case/cover as well, which, fortunately, can make glass/metal/plastic construction moot, if you manage to chose the right one.

● Ultra low power mode lets it run all night on standby mode with only 5% battery.

● Fast charge to 50% — between this, ultra low power mode & the very slightly larger 3220 mAh battery, this thing should never let you down.

● Increased resolution — screen size is unchanged at 5.7 inches, but resolution has been increased from 1920 x 1080 to 2560 x 1440. Attention all mobile phone manufacturers: it is some time since anyone has been able to see the individual pixels in the display of top-of-the-line mobile devices. Enough already! The only practical consequence of further increasing resolution is the negative effect on battery life.

● Front facing camera resolution has been increased from 2 megapixels to 3.7 MP. Focal length has been shortened, increasing the viewing angle to 120 degrees. Although this will let you fit more people into a selfie, increased fish-eye effect won't make them look any better.

● Rear camera — resolution increased from 13 to 16 megapixels & optical image stabilisation added, adds up to better images.

Reviews:

http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/business-it/hands-on-review-samsung-galaxy-note-4-and-note-edge-20140904-10c6yn.html

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/mobile-phone/3512336/samsung-galaxy-new-note-4-release-date-price-specs-uk-photos-video-teaser-today/

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/09/samsung-galaxy-note-4-better-in-all-the-right-places/

http://bgr.com/2014/09/03/galaxy-note-4-review-pt-1-hands-on/ / long distance wireless charging Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Snapdragon 800 3 GB RAM Samsung phablet Galaxy Note 4 faux fake leather like effect rear metal frame 5.7-inch Super AMOLED screen quad HD QHD resolution 2,560 x 1,440 extra grunt 2.3GHz Qualcomm 805 cpu processor Snapdragon 800 phablets stylus phones mobile phone cell smart phone smartphone metal-frame metal frame Samsung Galaxy Alpha Korean S5 big screen phones brushed aluminium fingerprint sensor Super AMOLED 13 MP 16 MP OIS optical image stabilisation quad core processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chipset2.5GHz Adreno 420 GPU 4GB of RAM 3GB RAM 64-bit processor Android octa-core Exynos 5433 four low-powered cores 1.3GHz four higher powered cores 2.3GHz Mali-T760 GPU 16 32 64 GB microSD storage 128GB stylus tablet phablet Ultra Power Saving Mode TouchWiz UI charger wireless charging charging plate charge QHD display quad octa core processor aluminium frame QHD screen /

If anyone can get delivery drones legalised, it's Google

Delivery drones have been around, as a concept, for some time. But so far, regulations have been in the way. Now, Google has thrown its hat in the ring.

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/09/if-anyone-can-get-delivery-drones-legalised-its-google/ / commercial drone industry powerful loaded Google secret drone delivery program Project Wing tech titan now commercial UAV unmanned aerial vehicle drone Remotely Piloted Aircraft RPA delivery drones law commercial drones banned by the Federal Aviation Administration case-by-case approved approval Amazon federal approval publicity stunt airborne delivery robots FAA requested permission hired lobbyist firm influence policymakers war chest influence policy fleet of autonomous vehicles self-driving cars self-flying vehicles U.S. airspace Indiegogo campaign promote innovation /