Researchers Create Walking Bio-Bots That Are Powered by Muscle

Researchers at the University of Illinois are developing what they call “bio-bots," or machines that combine synthetic 3D-printed frameworks with biological muscle tissue.

When the muscle fibers are jolted with electricity, they contract. Those muscles are attached to 3D-printed "bones," which are flexible enough to bend under the strain, and the result is forward motion. Scientists can control the speed of each bot by varying the frequency of electric pulses.

Researchers here have worked on similar projects before. A walking bio-bot in 2012 used rat heart cells to provide motion. However, the heart cells were "always on"; researchers couldn’t control when they fired.

The new version solves that problem.

“Skeletal muscles cells are very attractive because you can pace them using external signals,” head researcher Rashid Bashir said. “We want to have different options that could be used by engineers to design these things.”

The Illinois group envisions bio-bots that act as surgical aids or drug delivery vehicles, perhaps even with their own neurons so they can recognize and respond to light or chemical stimuli.

The team’s findings have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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China Has the Fastest Supercomputer in the World — Again

Zipping along at 33.86 petaflops (quadrillions of calculations per second), China's Tianhe-2 is the world's fastest computer for the third year in a row, according to Top500, a twice yearly compilation of the fastest computers on Earth.

The results were announced on Monday at the International Supercomputing Conference in Leipzig, Germany.

The Tianhe-2 was developed by China's National University of Defense Technology. Its predecessor, the Tianhe-1A, held the top spot on the supercomputer list in 2010. Top500 organizers note that the top 10 supercomputers are mostly unchanged from the last list, with the exception of a Cray XC30 computer, which is "installed at an undisclosed U.S. government site," according to a release on the Top500.org site.

Overall, the United States has by far the most supercomputers out of the top 500 systems, with China in a distant second; the UK, France and Germany lag far behind.

Supercomputers are not like the computers you use at home or in the office; they're not even much like the servers you’ll find in the office basement. They’re comprised of thousands of nodes and designed for crunching data and solving very difficult problems — in other words, research and development. That's why you'll find them hidden away at military facilities and laboratories.

Top500 notes that the rate of performance growth for the entire list is slowing down. Performance at the low end of the list typically grew at 90% year-over-year, but has now dropped to a 55% growth rate. Part of this deceleration is attributed to the dearth of new systems at the top. Despite that lack of change, these supercomputers will get more super. Tianhe-2 is projected to reach 100 petaflops by 2018.

Of the 500 systems on the list, 37 offer performance above the 1 petaflops range, nearly all of them use multicore processors, and 85% of them are running Intel processors. As for the systems themselves, 36% are built by HP and 33% by IBM. Cray builds 10%.

This is the 21st year that organizers in Germany and the United States have compiled the list.

The computer scientists measure system performance with the Linpack Benchmark, which is used in each system to solve "a dense set of equations." The benchmark is not a measure of the system's overall performance, but rather its performance on that task. Top500 organizers insist that no single benchmark can effectively measure the overall performance of a given system.

IMAGE: IMAGINECHINA/ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Smart Soccer Ball Brings Tech to the World Cup

Whether you’re on the field or spectating from thousands of miles away, there’s no escaping the impact of technology on this year's World Cup.

In our latest Mobile Minute video, we take a look at the big tech players - from smart soccer balls to smartwatches that track goals.

The Adidas miCoach Smart Ball lets you feel like a champ at home, helping you perfect your passes, headers, corners and penalty kicks in time for the next games.

For the brave souls officiating each game, there's Goal Control, a camera-powered smartwatch that vibrates when the ball crosses a goal.

And for those who want to get in the action at home, there are plenty of ways to stay connected to the game thanks to a variety of apps.

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Motorola Slashes $100 Off Its Moto X Smartphone for 48 Hours

Motorola is knocking $100 off the price of its Moto X smartphone for just 48 hours.

The company announced the deal on Twitter Tuesday night, but it's applicable to only those in the U.S.

The sale, which began at 12 a.m. Wednesday and will run through 11:59 p.m. Thursday, is good for the 32GB Moto X and its Developer Edition the latter comes with a woven white design on the back.

There's no contract attached to the discount.

Typically, the Moto X costs around $349, according to Motorola's website, so $249 for a no-strings-attached upgrade is a pretty good deal.

The user also has the ability to custom design his or her own phone, choosing from a selection of body and accent colors. It's possible to inscribe a personal message or name on the back of the device too.

The sale comes one day after Motorola announced it is bringing the Android 4.43 KitKat operating system to more Moto devices. The software comes with a better camera and a cleaner interface.

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Waterproof 360-Degree HD Camera Adds a World of Depth to Oculus Rift

With tools such as the Facebook-owned Oculus Rift moving into the mainstream, panoramic video and imagery are increasingly becoming necessary perspectives rather than mere visual curios.

Helping to meet that need is a new Kickstarter-backed panoramic video camera called the 360cam.

Created by France-based Giroptic, the tiny device might remind you of the roof-mounted camera seen on Google Street View cars. But this isn't a tool for large corporations; it's designed for the average user.

Housed in a blue and black plastic egg-like shell, the device allows you to capture 360-degree HD video and photos, all while delivering the device's current status on its surface via LED display. The display can indicate the camera's current mode (Time Lapse, Burst, Photo, Video, Live) and count down during timed photos.

Oculus owners can view live panoramic video through the 360cam's Oculus Rift video player. And, because the 360cam is waterproof, it offers the potential of virtual trips under the surface, for the first time. To enhance the visual clarity of underwater shots, the device also comes with a unique set of goggles for its lenses.

A few weeks ago, we saw a similar device called the Centr Cam, developed by a team of former Apple employees. But at time of writing, with only eight days to go, that Kickstarter campaign has raised roughly $500,000 of its $900,000. By contrast, the 360cam quickly blew past its goal of $150,000 — earning nearly $180,000 with 43 days of crowdfunding left.

"We have a wider field of view, 360x150 vertical, covering almost the full sphere, [and] we have a gyroscope for image stabilization," a Giroptic spokesperson told when asked to list differences between the two products.

Early backers of the device will receive the 360cam in August, and the company expects to start selling the camera in November for about $499.

Image: GIROPTIC

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These Smart Glasses Track Exactly What You're Looking At

Your devices already track your location and communication — why not what you're looking at, too? That's the promise of the Tobii Glasses 2, a pair of high-tech glasses that can track your eyes.

Why would you ever want to do such a thing? You probably wouldn't, but researchers of visual systems are clamoring for that kind of information — what, for instance, a person spends the most time looking at when they're watching TV while holding a tablet.

The glasses are designed primarily for those kinds of scenarios: research projects, testing rooms and simulators — where the thing being looked at isn't just a computer or tablet screen, which would be better served by non-wearable eye tracking like Tobii's EyeX. If you want to study what part of a person's face people look at in various social situations, for example, the Tobii Glasses 2 can tell you.

"What you're actually watching is the overlay of the gaze on the video," explains Barbara Barclay, general manager of Tobii North America. "The glasses themselves have no obstruction on the peripheral, so [they] can eye-track a wide area."

Although Tobii has had an eye-tracking pair of smart glasses for a while, the Tobii Glasses 2 has some nice upgrades. Each eye is now tracked by two cameras, which means even if the wearer adjust the glasses a little, they'll have a better chance of tracking your gaze. At 1.6 ounces, they're also extremely light.

The best part of the upgrade is real-time tracking. A researcher can watch what a person's looking at — with the gaze point continuously market onscreen — on a tablet or laptop as they're looking at it, the footage transmitted wirelessly from the glasses. The device also saves the footage to an SD card.

And what about when it comes time to analyze all this valuable eye-tracking data? Tobii can help there, too, but to get serious analysis software, you're going to have to pay extra. The basic Live View version of the Tobii Glasses 2 costs $14,900, but the Premium Analytics package is $29,900.

That's well north of even the notoriously expensive Google Glass, but if you're in the market for wearable eye tracking, there aren't that many games in town (although Berlin-based SMI offers an alternative). Tobii also offers the Premium Analytics package as a subscription for $800 a month.

Tobii plans to open up the Glasses 2, and the software that powers them, to developers later this year, with an SDK coming in October. That will allow manufacturers to integrate Tobii's platform into their own wearables, which could eventually lead to augmented-reality gaming headsets and smart glasses that can display information about exactly what you're looking at.

"That will allow people who are doing more complex interactions to take the platform of the glasses and do all kinds of things," says Barclay.

Tobii builds several different kinds of eye-tracking technology. The company just began shipping the EyeX, an eye tracker intended for PCs, to developers.

Image: TOBII

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Xiaomi's Mi Pad Is Almost a Spitting Image of the iPad Mini

If you thought Samsung was notorious for copying Apple, China's Xiaomi is in its own class. The company's Mi Pad tablet looks so much like the Apple iPad mini, it's eerie.

The company's first tablet, unveiled in Beijing on Thursday, has display specs that are identical to the iPad mini With Retina Display: a 7.9-inch screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio and 2,048 x 1,536 resolution. The proportions of the bezel look extremely similar — with thin sides and a thicker top/bottom — and Xiaomi even went to the trouble of making the Android-based UI resemble iOS 7, according to CNET.

The design resembles what you might get from a mating of the iPad mini and the iPhone 5C. The tablet is thicker and heavier than the iPad mini at 0.33 inch and 12.7 ounces, and the back is made of plastic. It also comes in multiple colors, including pinkish-red, blue, bright green yellow, gray and white. To Apple, that's a familiar palette.

The Xiaomi Mi Pad packs a quad-core Nvidia Tegra K1 processor with 2GB of RAM and runs Android 4.4.2. The rear camera is 8 megapixels while the front-facing camera is an impressive 5 megapixels. The non-removable battery is relatively large at 6,700 milliamp-hours (mAh). It'll come in 16GB and 64GB versions.

Another important way Xiaomi's tablet differs from the iPad mini is price: While Apple's high-res tablet starts at $399, the Mi Pad is just $240 (both for 16GB). That's even less than the regular ole (low-res) iPad mini, which starts at $299.

While Apple (and even Samsung) knockoffs are commonplace in China, the Mi Pad is notable since it comes from one of China's fastest-rising smartphone makers, and one that appeared to be on the road to mainstream legitimacy.

Founded in 2010, Xiaomi quickly established itself in China's crowded mobile market, recently becoming the country's third largest smartphone vendor. In 2013, the company hired Hugo Barra away from Google's Android division to be its vice president of global operations.

Image: XAIOMI

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New Google Glass Teardown Claims Device Costs Only $150 to Make

A complete teardown of Google Glass, Google's $1,500 wearable computer, conducted earlier this month reveals that the price of the components adds up to just $152.47.

The teardown, performed by IHS, found that the most expensive part of the Glass is its frame, which the company priced at $22.

"Today’s Google Glass feels like a prototype," said Andrew Rassweiler, senior director of cost benchmarking services for IHS, in a statement. "The design employs many off-the-shelf components that could be further optimized. If a mass market for the product is established, chipmakers are expected to offer more integrated chipsets specific to the application that will greatly improve all aspects of performance, including processing speed, energy efficiency, weight and size."

The second-most expensive component of Glass, according to IHS, is its square lens, made by Taiwan’s Himax Technologies, at a cost of $20.

A similar teardown of the device was conducted in April by Teardown.com, which came up with a figure of $79.78 for the total cost of the device's components, a figure Google disputed.

"While we appreciate Teardown.com's attempt to guess the cost of Glass, their estimate is wildly off," a spokesperson from Google told the website eWEEK, earlier this month. "Glass — parts and all — costs significantly more than their estimate."

However, at just $70 more, IHS Technology's estimate isn't likely to quell the chatter around the high price of Google Glass — a product the company says is still in beta testing — versus the cost to construct it.

But despite the wide margin between what IHS claims is Google's cost to build Glass and its price, the research company indicates that the device is worth more than the sum of its parts.

“[T]he vast majority of its cost is tied up in non-material costs that include non-recurring engineering (NRE) expenses, extensive software and platform development, as well as tooling costs and other upfront outlays," says Rassweiler. "When you buy Google Glass for $1,500, you are getting far, far more than just $152.47 in parts and manufacturing.”

This timing of this reveal of the new Google Glass teardown could turn out to be significant, as Google announced on Tuesday that it has decided to make the previously invitation-only wearable computing device available to all consumers without an invite.

Now, empowered with the knowledge that Glass costs around $150 to build, some fans of the device might think twice before parting with their $1,500.

IMAGE: IHS TECHNOLOGY

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Robot TED Talk Will Make You Believe in Magic

Magician's assistants may soon be out of work. Robots are not only ready to take their place, but they're doing it live and on a TED stage.

After months of development, training and practice, self-styled "techno illusionist" Marco Tempest took a Baxter robot, renamed him EDI (pronounced "Eddie") and put him on stage doing magic tricks at the recent TED2014 conference in Vancouver.

Tempest's six-minute TED talk, seen below, is a testament to what's possible with modern robots. As he told, "It’s time for magicians and technologists to collaborate.”

Tempest, whose previous magic-infused TED talk used augmented reality and iPads, started his new project last year, shortly after Rethink Robotics introduced its roughly $30,000 Baxter robot. Although it's designed to work in a factory setting, Baxter is unusual: It plugs into a standard wall outlet, and can be trained to do simple repetitive tasks in a half an hour.

For his TED talk, however, Tempest had something else in mind. He wanted a performance, not "creepy" repetitive tasks. Over a period of eight months, Tempest reprogrammed Baxter to work with him, adding 3D-printed hands that would help its performance, a jaunty hat and a new digital face to make the robot look "goofier."

When we checked in with Tempest last year, the project looked promising, but there was still a lot of work left to do (see the video, below). The performance he and EDI (Electronic Deceptive Intelligence) gave in Vancouver, however, is flawless and rather astounding. Notice that Tempest interacts directly with EDI, and despite the robot's impressive arm span and occasionally rapid movements, they never collide.

As the video shows, the talk is roughly 70% robotics education and 30% magic performance. Once we're all up to speed on the power and promise of robotics, perhaps we'll see even more magic out of EDI and Tempest.

VIDEO: Marco Tempest

IMAGE:  TED CONFERENCE, JAMES DUNCAN DAVIDSON

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Pocket-Sized Charger Claims to Keep Your Devices Juiced Up

Low battery, you may have met your match.

A new portable charging system aims to put on-the-go power in your pocket, boasting a set-up that reportedly doesn't compromise on power or portability. Modulo, developed by Barcelona-based tech company Idapt, is a credit card-sized gadget that claims to power any USB device, wherever you go.

"All our lifestyle now goes to electronics — it's portable, really portable," Idapt CEO Jacques Giribet told. "We have designed a battery that is as small as possible, taking into account that we want it to give you the same power as the original battery."

Once an electronic device is connected to a Modulo, either with its original charger or one of Idapt's mini cables, the battery begins to power up. The two can be even more securely attached with special adhesive strips that don't leave any residue behind. Stacking multiple Modulos on top of one another means more juice for a faster charge. For example, one Modulo would be enough to power up a smartphone as quickly as a normal charger would, but a tablet would need two or three to reach a full charge in the fastest possible time, the company claims.

The Modulos themselves can be charged from any wall socket, while connected to a computer or with a wireless receiver. Idapt also hopes it will be able to offer a solar-charging panel and crank add-on that creates its own energy. A Modulo can last up to about six months on one charge, according to the company.

There are plenty of other on-the-go charging options out there. According to Giribet, what sets Modulo apart from the rest of the pack is the fact that it's compatible with so many devices, and users don't have to choose between true portability — each Modulo weighs 2.4 ounces — and function.

"None of the solutions that are there are really a solution," Giribet said.

Modulo's Kickstarter campaign has already surpassed its fundraising goal, attracting more than $60,000 out of its original $30,000 goal, with 24 days remaining. It also won iLounge's Best in Show award at CES 2014. Production is expected to begin June, and shipping will start in July.

Image: IDAPT

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Capture 360-Degree HD Video With This Tiny UFO-Style Camera

Tools like Google Street View and even Apple's iPhone allow you to view the world as captured in panoramic photos, but a new camera called Centr delivers the same kind of immersive experience in high-definition video.

Created by a team of ex-Apple employees, Centr is a beautifully designed, palm-sized panoramic camera that you can control with your smartphone or tablet (iOS and Android).

"Think of it as a GoPro plus," Centr CEO Bill Banta told. "It lets you do everything you could with a GoPro, plus see another dimension.It allows the user to get perspectives that they couldn't normally get with a GoPro. Now you have the opportunity to create a panoramic selfie."

Giving users the ability to record 360-degree high-definition video is something the team has been working on for several years. Working under the name Stealth HD, the team provided private panoramic video recording solutions for the military, sports organizations and companies like Red Bull and National Geographic.

But it was only within the last 12 months that the team reached a point where they believed the technology could be made available to the general public at an affordable price ($399 at retail, with lower prices available now during pre-order).

"Our dream has always been to bring this type of tech to the mass market," says Banta. "We had a real breakthrough last year. We got to a point where we were able to do all the calibration and processing in real-time."

Using in-camera calibration, Centr's four independent HD image sensors stitch together panoramic videos in real-time, delivering an entirely different, and often quite revealing perspective on reality.

"The real value is you don't have to worry about anything being out of frame or out of focus," says Banta.

With up to two hours of battery life for continuous shooting (six hours standby), the device, which can be held through its center hole, or using a tripod, immediately opens up the possibility of innovative filmmaking using Centr's 360-perspective.

"The longest we've recorded is a full day at Burning Man," says Banta. "If you have a 64GB SD card, you should be able to get 7 to 8 hours of recording time, assuming you're recording at 720 resolution."

The camera can also shoot 1080p video and is equipped with 8GB of flash storage, three microphones, built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capability and a USB 3.0 connector.

Once they decided to release the product commercially, the team turned to Kickstarter, a route startups are increasingly relying upon to test out market demand. In this case, the makers of Centr are looking to raise $900,000 from early backers, a pretty ambitious goal for a product that is likely to appeal to a small niche of users.

"For people that just take pictures, it's probably not the perfect product," says Banta. "It's for people who love video and who love capturing memories and experiences through video."

Another factor that may bolster the project's success is the fact that the product's DNA is infused with Apple tradition and attention to detail. Banta managed Apple's supply chain for its camera group for four years, and Centr CTO, Paul Alioshin, led camera engineering at Apple and was part of the team that brought the built-in iSight camera to the Mac, MacBook and iPhone.

As of this writing, the project has garnered nearly $300,000, with 25 days to go, so that nearly $1 million goal may not be as lofty as some might think.


Image: CENTR CAMERA

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New Fingerprinting Method Takes a Hard Look at Your Pores

Criminals might not get away so easily, thanks to a new fingerprinting method that may be faster and more reliable than traditional methods, researchers say.

The method images the sweat pores in a human hand using a polymer that glows fluorescent and changes color when it comes in contact with tiny droplets of water. Only a small fraction of the fingerprint is needed to identify an individual, according to the new study.

"The sensor technology developed in this study has the potential of serving as a new method for fingerprint analysis and for the clinical diagnosis of malfunctioning sweat pores," the researchers wrote in the study, detailed April 29 in the journal Nature Communications.

The idea of using sweat pores for fingerprinting isn't new, but this is the first time that fast, reliable and cheap methods have been available.

A team led by Jong-Man Kim, a chemical engineer at Hanyang University in South Korea, developed a new fingerprinting method that uses a simple color-changing polymer that can be deposited using an ink-jet printer. When a fingertip is pressed against it, the polymer changes color from blue to red and glows in the places where it comes into contact with sweat, producing a dotted pattern that constitutes a unique fingerprint.

Traditional fingerprinting, which captures the characteristic ridge patterns on the fingertip, requires a large area to produce a reliable print and is prone to error. In contrast, the sweat-pore method requires only a small fraction of the fingertip to match it to its owner and is more reliable, researchers said.

The new method could also be used to diagnose sweat-pore disorders, because it can distinguish functioning pores from nonfunctioning ones.

This article originally published at LiveScience

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Hoop Tracker Helps Basketball Players Take Their Best Shot

We can't all have Jordan's dunk, but a new piece of wearable tech could soon help athletes understand their own strengths — and weaknesses.

Hoop Tracker is a smart watch designed specifically for basketball players that automatically measures training progress, including shooting percentages and accuracy.

"If you're going to perform an activity you're going to want to know how well you're doing it," Hoop Tracker founder Jason Duke told. "Basketball is no different."

The Hoop Tracker system is made up of two main components — a shot detector magnetically mounted on the hoop and the watch itself. Once a player takes a shot, a sensor is activated when the ball hits the backboard or the rim. If the ball goes in, it will hit a lever positioned in the hoop and the shot will be recorded as made. But if it doesn't hit the lever within two seconds, a miss will be registered.

Air balls won't activate the sensor and must be manually tracked by hitting a button on the watch. Data is wirelessly transferred from the shot detector to the watch and can be uploaded to the Hoop Tracker website where athletes can analyze their progress.

Players follow pre-programmed training regimens (or design their own) customized for each position that instruct them to take different shots, such as free throws or three pointers, from different areas on the court. Hoop Tracker also includes games like "Score 100," "3 Point Contest" and "Shoot Around." Athletes can also share achievements with friends on Facebook and Twitter.

The watch can be worn or kept on the sidelines if players are already familiar with the training programs — either way, it will still collect data. Coaches are also able to monitor multiple players at once in a separate mode.

Duke has played recreational basketball since childhood and was inspired to create Hoop Tracker because he felt there wasn't an easy way for players to get quantifiable feedback on their performances outside of expensive, bulky equipment. Shooting guns, for example, can cost approximately $5,000. Another start-up, Shot Tracker, is working toward a similar goal, but uses a sleeve and an app instead of a watch.

"You'll see where your strengths are and it could help you find out what your ideal position is," Duke said.

Hoop Tracker is raising funds on Kickstarter and shipping is expected to begin in October. As of press time, the crowdfunding campaign had garnered more than $36,000 out of a $100,000 goal with six days to go.

IMAGE: HOOP TRACKER

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Microsoft Web Browser Security Bug Could Impact Millions of Users

Microsoft issued a security advisory on Saturday warning users of a vulnerability in its Internet Explorer web browser that could allow malicious "remote code execution."

The vulnerability affects all versions of the browser and, as of this writing, there is no patch available to fix the issue.

Revealing the vulnerability on its website, Microsoft stated:

The vulnerability exists in the way that Internet Explorer accesses an object in memory that has been deleted or has not been properly allocated. The vulnerability may corrupt memory in a way that could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user within Internet Explorer. An attacker could host a specially crafted website that is designed to exploit this vulnerability through Internet Explorer and then convince a user to view the website.

FireEye, the security firm taking credit for finding the vulnerability, posted a notice on its website alerting users to the issue. "Threat actors are actively using this exploit in an ongoing campaign which we have named 'Operation Clandestine Fox,'” reads the statement on FireEye's website.

Security firm Symantec issued its own alert regarding the issue, highlighting the fact that Windows XP users are particularly susceptible, stating, " especially XP users are not safe anymore and this is the first vulnerability that will be not patched for their system."

This last point is no small issue as Microsoft officially ended support for Windows XP earlier this month, which means no more security updates for the millions still using the operating system.

According to NetMarketshare, Internet Explorer accounts for roughly 58% of the world's desktop browsers.

At present, the safest option might be to use another browser until Microsoft issues a security patch.

For its part, Microsoft says that at the completion of its investigation it will "take the appropriate action to protect our customers, which may include providing a solution through our monthly security update release process, or an out-of-cycle security update, depending on customer needs."

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The End of the Car Wash? Nissan Develops 'Self-Cleaning' Vehicle

Nissan unveiled a new prototype that could potentially do away with car washes on Thursday.

The car maker is experimenting with a special super-hydrophobic paint called Ultra-Ever Dry that it's billing as "self-cleaning" for cars. It has been specially engineered to be extremely water- and oil-resistant by UltraTech International.

"By creating a protective layer of air between the paint and environment, it effectively stops standing water and road spray from creating dirty marks on the car's surface," the car maker said in a statement.

The company says the paint, which is currently being tested on the Nissan Note, has "responded well" to normal weather conditions, including sleet, frost, snow and standing water. Nissan said its engineers will continue testing the paint over the next few months at Nissan's Technical Center in Europe.

Nissan added that is has no current plans to offer the paint as a standard feature, but that it is considering eventually offering it as an aftermarket product.

Watch the video, below, to see the "self-cleaning" paint in action.

IMAGE: NISSAN

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Microsoft Hotline Helps Entrepreneurs in India Build Tech Startups

Microsoft has offered tech support by phone for decades, from guiding business customers through a tricky Windows installation to making sure grandmas successfully locate Solitaire on the Start menu. But this month, the company launched a new kind of hotline in India to help entrepreneurs navigate the minefield of starting their own business.

In a novel move, Microsoft Ventures, the company's startup investment and accelerator arm, opened JumpStart, a toll-free number where support specialists will field calls from Indian entrepreneurs. Microsoft insists there are no restrictions on the type of questions an entrepreneur can ask, but expects its dedicated call center staff to be mostly advising customers on legal, funding or marketing issues. Microsoft says workers will walk callers through the processes of registering a company, preparing taxes, tracking down an accountant and finding a good lawyer. They're also happy to suggest technology solutions. (Microsoft Azure, perhaps?)

These days, dial-in tech support seems old-fashioned to say the least, but Indians could use whatever help they can get. It's one of the toughest countries to start a business in, according to the World Bank. Part of that can be attributed to the 2012 "startup tax" that treats Indian investments as income, essentially penalizing companies that raise money locally. Amid complaints of over-regulation, last year was also the worst for Indian technology IPOs in more than a decade.

But investors there are optimistic, pointing to the increase in the number of startups and the growing interest from Silicon Valley giants, such as Facebook's acquisition of Bangalore, India-based Little Eye Labs in January. Satya Nadella, Microsoft's new CEO and a native of Hyderabad, India, is searching for ways to align the company with startups in his home country that could one day be big-budget customers.

The JumpStart 800-number is staffed Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in India. Microsoft Ventures, which has six accelerators worldwide, plans to use feedback gathered from the program to fine-tune its various Indian startup-centric efforts.

Microsoft is currently the dominant software provider for companies in India, with 31% of the market, according to research firm IDC. The overall value of corporate software in India is expected to swell to almost $45 billion this year, the researcher said. If data gathered as part of JumpStart's free hotline helps the company stay ahead of the competition, answering some phone calls won't seem like such a big effort.

This article originally published at Bloomberg

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Google Glass Update Adds iPhone SMS Messaging and Calendar App

Just a week after Google made Glass available for purchase to the entire public for one day, it unveiled a new software update for the wearable computer.

The latest software update adds SMS messaging for the iPhone, and includes a Calendar Glassware app.

Scheduled to be released over the next few days, the update will allow Google Glass users to view texts from their iPhone by turning on the "show notifications" option in the Bluetooth settings on iOS. The feature is already available for Android devices.

However, users will only be able to receive texts, not send them, due to what the Glass team calls "limitations with iOS." So while reading texts on the device might save you a bit of time, until you can reply to them using Glass, the feature will be less than ideal for frequent users of the wearable device.

Also included in the update will be the Calendar Glassware app, which allows users to view their appointments, as well as modify times, dates and locations.

Image: GOOGLE

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Micro Magnet Robots Can Build Mini Super Structures

Magnets and their properties have long fascinated everyone from children to scientists, but it's unlikely you’ve ever seen them harnessed quite like this.

SRI International, a non-profit research firm serving government and industry, has found a novel way to control tiny, low cost magnets via electromagnetic pulses delivered to them through contact with printed circuit boards.

The patented process, known as Diamagnetic Micro Manipulation (DM3), can move magnetically actuated micro-robots at speeds of up to 3 CM per second, in any direction and even along curved circuit boards. As long as there’s an electromagnetic current running through the circuitry, the magnets will hold on and do your bidding. The system can host not just one magnet on a board, but dozens, which can work together or perform separate task. All the instruction comes through the electromagnetic pulses in the board.

Making one or even dozens of little magnets move and almost dance in unison is entertaining, but it's when SRI started adding what it calls "effectors" to the magnets that things got really interesting. "Effectors" are basically little pieces of wires or other add-ons that allow the magnets to pick up, hold and manipulate materials.

In the video above, the magnets are programmed to grab, move and glue carbon-fiber sticks. Eventually, they built a 29-centimeter-long truss capable of supporting up to 2 kg.

According to SRI, which is working on the project with DARPA, "Our vision is to enable an assembly head containing thousands of micro-robots to manufacture high-quality macro-scale products while providing millimeter-scale structural control."

The company believes these micro robots could someday power entire micro factories.

The video, by the way, looks pretty mundane until you realize it’s garden variety magnets acting as if they’re alive and capable of working as hard as you’re everyday construction worker.

IMAGE: SRI INTERNATIONAL / SCREEN GRAB

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Apple CarPlay Coming to Pioneer In-Car Systems This Summer

The reach of CarPlay, Apple's in-car app system, will extend even further than before, thanks to a new arrangement with Pioneer.

Soon, when Pioneer users plug their iPhones into their vehicles, CarPlay will automatically launch and offer access to its full suite of apps.

“By providing an aftermarket option, Pioneer’s 2014 in-dash multimedia systems give many iPhone owners the ability to add CarPlay to their current vehicles,” Ted Cardenas, vice-president of marketing for Pioneer's car-electronics division, said in a statement.

The CarPlay option will be made available this summer through a firmware update to Pioneer's line of five 2014 NEX in-dash multimedia receivers.

During the initial rollout of CarPlay earlier this year, some thought that consumers would need to purchase one of the vehicles listed as part of Apple's CarPlay partner program. Pioneer's announcement means CarPlay will come to an even wider range of drivers much sooner than previously thought via this aftermarket option.

Pioneer has also launched a dedicated website for those interested in getting the CarPlay system via its 2014 NEX in-dash multimedia receivers. 

According to a report last week in Japan's Nikkei, Alpine also plans to offer an aftermarket in-car system that supports CarPlay, ranging in price from $500 to $700, some time this fall.

IAMGE: PIONEER

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The Rufus Cuff 'Wrist Communicator': A Step Above the Smartwatch?

Although we're still far off from the year 3000, one new gadget is straight out of Futurama.

The Rufus Cuff claims to be a step above the smartwatch because it offers users a connected experience similar to one they would get on a smartphone.

Aesthetically, it may resemble recently released gadgets such as the Pebble Steel or Samsung's Galaxy Gear, but the device — which will include a 3-inch screen, and run on Android — aims to offer more functionality.

"Smartwatches are cool — a good start to where we should be going — but this is where we should be," Gabe Grifoni, CEO and co-founder of Rufus Labs, the accessory's parent company, told.  

"We are a category beyond the smartwatch."

Grifoni said he was inspired to create the Rufus Cuff — named after his dog — during a four-hour drive home from CES 2013. He remembers loving the wearable technology he saw, but thinking that there was a better way to do it. Simply calling a device "smart" doesn't necessarily make it so for Grifoni, who said his longterm goal for the Rufus Cuff is to eventually have it replace our need for smartphones.

Although it won't be able to connect to a cellular network on its own, the Rufus Cuff will be able to send and receive calls or text messages when digitally tethered to a smartphone. Users will also be able to take advantage of its Wi-Fi capabilities. The gadget will be compatible with both Android and iOS devices, although use with the latter will be slightly more limited based on what Apple will allow.

The Rufus Cuff is being marketed as a full-on "wrist communicator." Grifoni said the device's large screen will give it an edge over competitors, and claimed it is easy to get used to, especially since the weight of the device is distributed over a larger surface area.

"I have the skinniest, nerdiest wrist in the world, and I built it for myself," he said.

The Rufus Cuff is raising funds via Indiegogo. As of press time, the crowdfunding campaign has reached just over $120,000 out of its $200,000 goal, with 13 days to go. If it can raise enough money, Rufus Labs plans to donate a portion of its profits to charity. A functional prototype is still in the works, and if all goes well, production is expected to begin in September.

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