The new technology it may be possible to build highly efficient and less electrical power consuming computer chips.
Besides improving mobile devices efficiency, this innovative transistor technology may makes it possible to soon build computers that work more like the human brain works.

How does the innovative transistor technology work?

IBM’s revolutionary transistor technology is founded on materials termed “correlated electron oxides”.
These materials get combined with ionic liquids, a blend of molecules with half of them being positively charged and the other half being negatively charged.
When an ionic voltage is applied to the liquid, the charged particles get directed to opposite sides on the surface and change the state of matter of the oxide material.
In the interaction of the oxide and the liquid material the latter is changing its conductive state from an insulator to a metal, which means that it can be maintain the state without any need to supply power until another charge is applied.

What benefits does this have?

Applying a charged ionic liquid electrolyte to a substance and being able to create a stable insulating and conducting state of the oxide material is another important approach to develop low-energy, highly efficient devices by switching the conducting state of the material on and off.

With this new findings IBM wants to go a step further and create non-volatile memory, or computer chips that save data independent from whether electricity is on or off.
They IBM engineers also believe soon to be able to create logic chips that need less power than silicon-based semiconductor chips that are used today in computer processors, memory and other components.

IBM has for sure opened a new thinking about technology for creating a next generation oxide-based transistors and logic gates.
One of the key team engineers of the IBM team, Stuart Parking said “Our inspiration is the brain and how it operates. It is full of liquids and ionic currents. We could build more brain-like devices.”

We are looking forward to the next results from the Parkin Group at IBM research and cannot wait to hold the new devices that are faster and more energy efficient in our won hands.

Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2013/03/21/ibm-creates-liquid-based-transistors-that-can-process-data-like-the-human-brain/#AyLqRQsMrIGfEzih.99

We continuously share photos, videos, status updates and links about what fascinates us, what we like or dislike, what shocked us and what entertains us etc.

Our private information isn’t so private anymore and part of the huge Internet cloud.
The information is visible and retrievable to whomever we allow to see it.

How does all the information get stored in the cloud?

1. We feed the system with our information: photos, songs, videos, messages etc.
2. All the different Internet companies store the huge amount of the information in data centers around the world.
3. When we are sharing information such as a status update, video or photo, data gets transmitted to one of the data center servers/computers and is stored there until somebody who is interested and has access to it views it.
4. When we/others are ready to read a message or watch a specific video that was posted, the data get pulled from a computer at one of these centers.

What are the data used for?

For course, the main purpose of putting data into the cloud is sharing information to our friends, families, coworkers and interest groups.
But the data are far more valuable: By using data-mining methods and high performance data processing machines, the electronic footprint left behind from any electronic interactions can be used to draw conclusions about the user’s habits, preferences and interaction groups. This can be used for market research and development, user habit studies and user profiling. Contextual computing which is one of the future powerful analytic methods will significantly shape this area of data usage.

Recently, we learned from the news that also the government such as the National Security Agency (NSA) is allowed to request information on customers of Internet companies. And yes, these agencies can access the information that is stored in the data center servers/computers to views the information. However, this doesn’t occur just randomly but only with the presentation of a subpoena or court order.

Thus, I think if we like to share our photos and messages with our friends and families let’s keep on doing this – nothing to hide – or should we start thinking about it more?

Recently, Intel published an infographic that gives very interesting insight what happens in just one single minute in the Internet:

1. 639.800 GB of global IP data is transferred each minute that include data that is accessed via computers and notebooks, smartphones, tablets and even devices like cars, white appliances or healthcare devices (see Internet-of-Things, IoT).
2. There are more than 2 Million search queries on Google without even mentioning other search engines in this infographic.
3. In just one single minute there are about 204 million emails sent.
4. 47,000 apps get downloaded.
5. The worldwide per minute sales revenue of Amazon is $83,000.
6. About six new Wikipedia articles are published in the same time.
7. There are 61,141 hours of music listen to via Pandora and 1.3 Million videos viewed on Youtube, 30 hours of new videos one get uploaded in an Internet minute. 20 million photos viewed of which about 3,000 uploaded on Flickr not counting the uploades through other platforms like Intergram.
8. There are 277,000 logins into Facebook and 6 million Facebook pages are viewed around the world.
9. It is mentioned that there are about 135 botnet infections during each Internet minute which equals about 194,00 infections/day.
10. About 20 new victims of identity theft get registered, which means as much as there are about 2480 new identity theft cases each day.

That is impressive and also kind of scary – a lot of data!

Predictions for the next two years show that numbers will go far beyond this.
Within the next two years, it is expected that the number of networked devices will double which already now is about the same as the world’s population.
This will significantly increase the Internet use such as by 2015, it forecasted to take five years to view all video content that is transferred via IP networks each second.

To facilitate that growth of the World Wide Web, manufacturers of devices, software developers and Internet service providers need to find smart solutions to handle this explosion in network traffic.
It needs to be guaranteed that future consumer expectations are met to stay connected on intelligent devices every Internet minute of the day while maintaining or better even improving security standards.

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/communications/internet-minute-infographic.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2006091/Number-crunchers-just-happens-60-seconds-internet–A-LOT.html

Developments in AI tools, fuzzy logic and neuronal networks show first successful directions in creating sentient technology, though machines still are far away from the human capability to recognize pictures and understand language and even further away from making decisions based on this inputs.

Already in the 1960s, John Holland shaped the field of genetic algorithms which is now a very common approach in developing smart machines. By mimicking biological evolution and translating the concepts of natural selection and reproduction to computer programming language, genetic algorithms compute solutions to complex simulations and optimization problems.
Developing solutions for distinct optimization problems is clearly different from creating machines that show consciousness or even freewill. Conscious intelligence is one of many traits that human that in the evolutionary sense increased their odds of survival (survival of the fittest paradigm). However, defining a comparable test of fitness for pursuing the development of artificial intelligence as an evolutionary goal for machines is very intangible, yet.
Creating machines that process information comparable to the human brain is a dream since over 50 years that didn’t become reality, yet. What is probably closest to it is that we can attain the “illusion” of sentience, including pre-sentient computers such as decision-making machines (Watson supercomputer), intelligent drones used in warfare and artificial intelligences that use weighted algorithms for decision making as the legendary chess computer that fought Kasparov.

One other missing piece for sentient machines is that progress in software isn’t able to keep pace with the exponential growth in hardware processing power that doubles almost every 1.5 years while the doubling time for software performance is about 20 years. Thus, it is a primary goal to push software developments forward to develop sentient technology.

The final question however is whether humankind is ready for the sentient machine. First it is on us to take responsibility to create adequate legal rules how to control these intelligent devices and develop a mind set for not being controlled by AIs.

In conclusion, computer sentience is possible. The creation of thoughts and feelings is just a matter of implementing the right program into smart devices but unlikely to be anywhere near that stage right now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentient_computing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_computers

http://www.geek.com/news/sentient-computers-on-the-horizon-544683/

What is needed?
Vendors need to provide more elegant solutions to maintain their ability to compete on the market.

It becomes ever more important to implement inter-operable and cross-platform adaptable solutions that satisfy clients and enable service and IT departments to react faster and more efficient to client needs.
Agile software and IT architectural practices need to reshape how we think about our enterprise technology, about implementing change and advancing business competition.

Agile Enterprise IT Trends

1. From Static to Flexible: Static enterprise architecture frameworks give away the ability for continuous business transformation best practices. One great solution to be less static is cloud computing. Moving to more flexible adaptable solutions in private, public or hybrid clouds allows scaling business needs and getting change implemented quickly.
2. Mobile Computing: The new concepts in business include thinking about mobile apps, social networking and constant accessibility. Technology is become available to everybody and a broad variety of applications can be purchased and accessed via app and android stores etc. on multiple devices with one click credit card payments and downloads, versus the ‘old-fashioned way’ of big-budget request for proposals. Users request services that are available whenever, wherever they are. Using mobile devices, instant messaging and the perpetual connectivity through wireless and 3G/4G networks makes services available 24/7. Vendors need to use nowadays’ possibilities to share their products with their clients who never before had easier and faster access to services and products.
3. Flexible Cross-Platform Operability: Most challenging but also most desired is to create software solutions that automatically and seamless inter-operates with each other in rest and web services. Only if IT services and products can be accessed by multiple devices and through multiple application platforms, full product acceptance is guaranteed and a broader mass of users is addressed.
4. Global Connectivity: Today, anybody can communicate, socialize and work together anywhere as if they were in the same location. Communication with business partners and clients, cooperation in projects and exchanging idea is becoming global, flexible and involving many creative heads that work together, no matter where they are located.

Ever more emergent, disruptive IT technologies such as context-aware mobile apps, social networking and cloud computing is forcing enterprises to be flexible and apply these innovations in growing their overall business goals.

However, this thinking turns out to be wrong if users play the “right” games for the “right” amount of time.
Several studies in the last decade reported, to the surprise of many, that action games can considerably improve cognitive skills and reaction time.
Recently, Adam Chie-Ming Oei and Michael Donald Patterson of the Technology University of Singapore published in PLOS ONE that participants of a study who had played action games over one month for one hour each day showed a significantly improved capacity to track objects in a short span of time due to training of muscle groups with repetitive actions and repeated use of certain cognitive processes in video games. Another group of study participants played hidden object games for one month, one hour daily. This group showed a much improved performance on visual search tasks.

Currently trending is the use of games that supposedly improve brain fitness. Most of these games are designed to be used on mobile devices to train cognitive functions on an everyday level.
Like in a physical fitness program to strengthen the body muscles, such brain training games may help users to “work out” their brain synapses to enhance memory, improve attention span, strengthen focus and increase concentration.

Most developers of the brain games state that brain games can significantly prevent the development of dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease. This gets increasingly supported by scientific research. Multiple studies in older adults indicate that those on-screen exercises can slow down the age-related cognitive decline and improve the cognition.
Though brain degenerative diseases aren’t completely preventable, and many risk factors involve a person’s lifestyle and environment, using brain fitness games prophylactically may help to protect from brains aging for the long term (Start before dementia processes are measurable!) .

Many of the brain fitness games work on language, memory, concentration, visual-spatial and problem solving skills. They involve simple application such as playing Sudoku, crosswords, games for matching, sorting and pattern recognition, logic tasks, solving puzzles, memorizing numbers, math sequences and quizzes etc.
Multiple of the programs allow tracking the progress in memory, skills and cognition.

As my final comment, I need to mention that besides all benefits for our brain fitness, computer games are also a lot of fun! – So let’s play!

A recent paper publication in the Journal Nature Photonics showed consistent photo-activation of neurons that were grown on glass slides coated with the poly(3-hexylthiophene) polymer (P3HT).
Furthermore the same group of researchers demonstrated that the neuronal interface restores light sensitivity when transplanted to cultures of rat retinas with light-induced photoreceptor degeneration which may soon opens the opportunity to create an artificial retina and/or will make us rethink the concept of external camera based systems.

One important advantage of the P3HT polymer is that it needs no external power while current photo-activated technologies for any kind of cameras as well as for artificial retinas still require a relatively large stimulator box that needs to be implanted close by for power and control. When grown on the P3HT polymer, neurons could be activated at a power level of just 4mW per mm2 and the cells were able to maintain a repetitive firing pattern of up to 20Hz in the used 10 ms protocol.
It is thought that the stimulated ion transfer through opened cannels in the neurons cell membranes that leads to the neuron activation after photo-activation is be due both to capacitive coupling and faradic currents at the interface but needs further research to be completely understood.

Second important finding of this research is that the P3HT polymer is not toxic to the neurons and that the neurons that get photo-activated in this innovate way don’t show a significant cellular stress response.

After having the initial understanding about how the P3HT polymer activates the neurons, it is now essential to establish a longer-term feasibility of the technology, for the most part because the used polymer may cause oxidization and change behavior which would affect cellular processes and signal generation.

With progress in understanding the interdisciplinary field of optoelectronics and neurotechnologies, we may soon reach new dimension in communication and information transfer using bioorganic materials with so far unknown potential

About a month ago, my good old Dell laptop needed to be retired – it did a good job for many years but after 4.5 years of intense use finally got into the ‘ages’.

So what next?
The market of PCs, Macs, laptops, tablets is overflowing trying to meet the request of a crowd of users with different interests and needs on the device.

I am working in a software engineering company managing research and development, coordinating projects and helping out with User Interface development questions. Thus, my machine needs high capacity to process data fast, once in a while needs to process a high amount of data simultaneously with a high quality.
Preparing optimal graphics and presentations requires a high quality display, brilliant colors and programs to easily navigate through.
I work from an office but cannot prevent to take work home once in a while or have few remote working days. Thus, my device needs to be mobile, not too heavy and contain hardware that doesn’t get affected by moving the device around a lot. I need Skype and other communication tools to stay in contact with my team at work but also for private communication around the world.
And, finally, what would be a business meeting today without a tablet in my hand?
In addition, I like to use my devices for private entertainment such as watching movies, social networking, video streaming, skipping and scrolling through endless pages of recipes.

With some advice, my decision about what my next device would be, was to get the new Dell XPS 18. It promises an all-in-one concept to work as desktop PC, laptop and tablet.
The XPS 18 runs Windows 8, 64-bit and has a quite large touchscreen that can be attached to a stand and works with keyboard and mouse like a classic PC.
You can put the screen down and use it as a laptop. Or, you can use it as a super-sized tablet that has all functionality that you expect from a tablet. It seemed to be the perfect solution.

My Experience with Performance and Mobility of the Dell XPS 18

My Dell XPS 18 machine is customized with a 3rd Generation 2.7-GHz Intel Core i5-3337U processor with 8GB of RAM that allows data processing in a high speed and is very satisfying for both work-associated requests I have and private use (e.g. streaming video from Youtube or Amazon). The 500GB 5440rpm SATA Hard Drive and 32GB mSATA Solid State Drive make the machine fast. Critical point in using the SATA Hard Drive is that it makes the device heavier and probably more susceptible to by movement induced problems compared with using a second solid hard drive that is used in most other newer devices designed for mobility.
Asking the Dell customer service for a possibility to exchange the hard drive prior to purchase wasn’t leading to success though the service personnel was very considerate to listen to our requests.
Hopefully, future devices of this kind will switch to only solid hard drives used as a standard. This would benefit weight reduction and stability of the hard drive due to less moving mechanical part of the Dell XPS series.
At nearly 5 pounds, the machine is not exceedingly mobile, but it is easier to carry around than typical all-in-ones that are on the market. Talking to co-workers and friends, some love the size for the tablet while I once in a while seek a smaller screen to be in front of me to work with (e.g. like the iPad that I am used to use). Using the tablet for work and home entertainment use is fine but for taking it into a coffee shop to get work done there or just scan through my social networks makes me wish to be able to shrink it in size.
As expected, the Dell XPS 18 uses wireless to connect to the internet. Few times I experienced that the connection dropped or that I changed locations, which gave the device troubles to connect and even required the restart of the machine.

My Experience with Display and Navigation

The Dell XPS 18 monitor is an 18.4 inch LED Backlit Touch Display with IPS/Truelife and FHD resolution of 1920×1080 px. I love the resolution and color brilliance in creating images and presentations that not only is catchy to my eye but also to the eyes of our customers.
Together with the HD Graphics 4000 Video card, videos run well on the Dell XPS 18.
From a user perspective I needed first to get used to but now love the interactive handling of keyboard and touch screen. I rarely us my mouse to open and close tabs and click buttons – I just do it with navigating through the screen by touch. Although I don’t want to miss the mouse, if I am writing blogs, information or reviews such as this one.
After I got used to it, I started to enjoy the ease of going back to the previous page or screen by just swiping the screen on the left boarder as if I flip a page in a book.
Navigating through the menu on the right hand side was also something I wasn’t used to, but over the last weeks learned to handle it and appreciate the quick touch screen navigation to reach the main menu. Now, I almost do it blindly and experience it as very fast navigation option.

My Issues with Skype using the Dell XPS 18

The only still very bothersome issue is the navigation to Skype that is very different than with previous machines that I used. In my company, we use Skype for internal communication during the whole work day, in private, I use it to keep contact to my family.
I expected to have the Skype link somewhere in the main task list but need to navigate through the main menu to open it and back through the main menu to reach me desktop.
If I receive Skype messages I get notified and can click on the notification to be directed to it but if I don’t immediately have time to respond, it becomes invisible to me and can be easily forgotten unless I directly navigate to Skype.
Also, I didn’t discover the function to correct former messages in Skype as I used to. A big improvement could help the user to get Skype messages more easily and stay in contact using Skype.

My Experience with Windows 8

The system comes with Windows 8. It is no news, Windows 8 is very colorful. In the beginning I wished that I would be able to change the displays to less colorful options and to choose colors of the palette of my color preference but got over the first weeks used to the display.

My Experience with the New Microsoft Office 365

The basic Office 365 for Home version doesn’t have Outlook coming with it but I need it to organize multiple email accounts for my work. Thus, I had to buy the upgraded version asking myself who doesn’t need Outlook? I think this program should be part of the basic package of Microsoft Office package.
I am not very satisfied with the Outlook version working on the Dell XPS 18. In averages it crashes once a day and it also takes a long time to pull email in from different sources. Most frustrating several times Outlook crashed while I was sending emails and didn’t save a draft, so that I had to write everything again. The speed of Outlook even got worse with a very recent update that automatically installed while I was using the machine (even without asking me for the restart). I hope future updates take care of this problem.
I don’t see a big difference of Powerpoint to the previous Window versions I used but see a big step forward in Excel’s capability to set-up and modify graphs and charts – big plus from my side.
I didn’t use OneNote on any machine before but start to like the possibility to write onto the screen during meeting and having the ability to translate the handwritten notes into a typed-format. The translation isn’t always perfect but good enough and I learned which words/numbers aren’t recognized and adapted the handwriting with getting better results now.

My Experience with the Keyboards

The Bluetooth keyboard that comes with the Dell XPS 18 works like a classic keyboard, types well and is easy to use.
However, my biggest problem with the Dell XSP 18 currently is that the touch screen keyboard isn’t always properly triggered when I use the tablet function. This most of the time happens when I try to start a new search query (Google Chrome, Google Maps, Firefox etc.) when I don’t have the Bluetooth keyboard available.
The user needs push the keyboard button to be able to type keywords into the search window.
When triggered, the touchscreen-keyboard actually is very well usable and easy to handle and offers beside the standard keyboard with letters and numbers options to write on the screen and translate it into typed text which a high precision and quality.

Summary

Dell did a good job developing an all-in-one device that indeed can be used as desktop PC, laptop and tablet. The performance and the display are very satisfying. The mobile tablet version still has some weaknesses including weight, size of the screen and problems in triggering the keyboard during searches.
All-in-all, I like my new Dell XPS 18. Working and entertainment with one device was never faster and more fun.
I am looking forward to what I will discover next using my Dell XPS 18 and to explore how it will change my workflow and the way I enjoy entertainment and communication.

In a little while, we will be able to interact with our smartphones and tablets just with your brain through the use of head-mounted electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors.
Thought-controlled computing is the eventual goal to control all of our devices. But, it may also help us to understand and react to what is happening inside our head by displaying brain activity. This may benefit biofeedback approaches as it was recently shown that humans more easily control brain activity and stress when they have a picture of what is going on in the their heads.

Prototypes are already developed and even in the early phases, BCI technology is gaining significant traction in consumer-electronics.
Users are already dreaming about improving their own mind and stress control methods.

Presently, BCI technology is mainly used to support patients that suffer from limited mobility due to muscle disorders and damage of peripheral nerves. It significantly improves the user’s ability to interact with their environment increasing their life quality.
Future BCI technology is trying to go beyond the clinical use and to enter our daily life.

So far, BCI technology isn’t a “mind reader”, which means it isn’t able to process or interpret thoughts but simply measures the electrical activity in the brain capturing a response to what the user engages.
Even though BCI research is working hard on overcoming current limitations in “mind reading”, it remains uncertain whether it will be ever possible to develop a mobile experience without any touch interaction necessary.
Another big challenge in developing BCI technology is the placement and management of the EEG sensors to make the technology more user friendly e.g. to develop comfortable and properly placed headsets and make people to wear them.

One important question is: How many years do we have to wait to see BCI technology to be usable in our daily life?
One of the leading technologist in the BCI area, Ariel Garten InteraXon CEO, predicts: “Just given the advances that need to happen in algorithm detection and consumer behavior, 20 to 25 years is really the right time frame for to be pertinent in the way that touch screens are today.”

http://www.businessinsider.com/brain-control-devices-2011-8?op=1

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/brain-controlled-gadgets/

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2011/01/09/mind-controlled-gadgets-interaxon/

Bio-inspired techniques frequently comprise three basic principles:

1. A set of simple rules found in nature
2. A set of simple organisms which adhere to those rules
3. A method that iteratively applies those rules

Biocomputing most frequently creates:

• Genetic algorithms, pattern recognition, time-series prediction, non-linear dynamic models and decision making rules based on principles of evolution
• Data mining, emergent systems, image processing and combinatorial optimization based on insect colony optimization and swarm intelligence
• Neural networks based on the human brain
• Communication networks based on epidemiological data (disease spreading, animal trafficking)
• Sensor networks based on sensory organs (eyes, ears, skin)
• Artificial immune systems in computer security and biometrics research based on the natural immune response
• Computer graphics based on patterning and rendering of natural structures (skins, feathers, colony structure)

After applying several generations of a simple rule in a human-engineered system that is comparable to a rule found in nature, a bio-inspired computing algorithm frequently starts to develop a very specific complex behavior that gets built upon in following generation cycles. At the end of multiple time repetitions of applying the rules, very often something evidently complex has developed.

Evolution is a very good example for this observations relying on simple principles of selection, recombination, reproduction, mutation and transposition. Over a time period of millions of years those rules have shaped highly complex organisms.

Interestingly, the results from bio-inspired computing are very often counter-intuitive from what the original (human-made) rules projected; the same as natural evolution is hardly predictable and results are often surprising.

Bio-inspired computing provides a powerful tool set of computing techniques that can be used for optimization, problem solving and modeling. It provides very promising solutions for computer science, electronics, mechanical engineering to chemical engineering and molecular biology but also in business and R&D.

Let’s use the logic that nature provides to create better, more intelligent and flexible algorithms!

http://bioinspiredcomputation.com/self-archived-bookNeumannWitt.pdf

http://books.google.com/books/about/Recent_Developments_In_Biologically_Insp.html?id=JGBknjui3SsC