Photo: DSI
At 5mm, the A-Drive, a hybrid hard drive developed by A*STAR’s Data Storage Institute (DSI), is one of the world’s thinnest in a 2.5″ form factor. It’s also one of the world’s first — the other being Western Digital‘s hybrid hard drive, which is also 5mm thick. The new drive was unveiled on 1st November to commemorate DSI’s 20 years of research.
The A-Drive, which could be commercialized within a year and retail at USD60, can provide up to 1TB of hard disk drive (HDD) space and 32GB of solid state drive (SSD) space. That’s about 250,000 songs. Read more
Debit cards that require fingerprint authorization could very well be the future of banking due to its improved security over existing systems, which approve transactions using PIN numbers.
Now, thanks to the Mekong Development Bank, which provides credit to the agriculture sector and rural areas in Vietnam, new biometric debit cards will be provided to the population in both urban and rural areas. Read more
It seems like everyone is making speculative concept videos these days. While opinion is split on the vanity of the companies involved in making them, the videos do give us a glimpse of what the future could be like and how technology might change the way we live. If you only have time for one video though, we’d suggest you check out “Sight”, which is at the bottom. It gives a humorous portrayal of how our reliance on technology could become… excessive. Read more
If you’re in London for the Olympics, you might have seen an army of these intriguing devices inhabiting the streets of the city central.
These are high-tech recycling bins that put their dull ancestors to shame: They’re bomb-proof, Internet-enabled, and environmentally friendly. And they come with two digital screens that broadcasts news, stock updates, and anything you can dream of.
The only catch? They cost a wholesome US$40,000 (S$50,000) each: 23 grand to manufacture, and another US$16,000 to install, since each unit requires a telecoms and electrical line, as well as a cement platform.
It’s also coming to Singapore. One of these sleek garbage bins will be installed in the city-state as a trial run, reveals Chris O’Connor, the CFO of Renew Solution, the company behind the ambitious idea. Read more
Every once in a while, we cover cool technology from across the pond. After all, inspiration knows no boundaries.
When birds chirp, they communicate. And communication involves transmitting data. Taking inspiration from nature, a startup in London has created a novel way of transmitting data from one smartphone to another — by sending digital chirps.
The company, called Chirp, is a spin-off business from the University College London. Here’s how the app works: Say you want to transmit a photo to a friend. You upload the photo to the cloud using the app, and once you hit the button, the app blasts a short two-second song to your friend’s phone, which also has the Chirp app open.
It takes just a few seconds for your friend to receive the file. Besides photos, the app can transmit text links and short 140 character messages. Read more
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