Another day, another cracked encryption standard. This time, researchers at the University of Michigan have devised a way to undermine the ubiquitous RSA encryption technique used in everything from digital communications to copy protection. Although the technique, which involves varying the voltage to the circuitry in which part of the encryption key is contained, is unlikely to result in remotely hacked RSA based systems, it does reduce confidence in the decades old RSA standard.
“The scientists found they could foil the security system by varying the voltage supply to the holder of the “private key,” which would be the consumer’s device in the case of copy protection and the retailer or bank in the case of Internet communication. It is highly unlikely that a hacker could use this approach on a large institution, the researchers say. These findings would be more likely to concern media companies and mobile device manufacturers, as well as those who use them.”
So remember, for every great encryption technique, there’s an even smarter person trying to crack it. And while this forces the development of better and more secure systems, we have to hope these lab developed cracking methods don’t fall into “the wrong hands“.
“In three years time, desktops will be irrelevant.” – Google Europe’s John Herlihy, 2010
Google’s a great company with typically great foresight. Having recognized the significant market trends that drive its industry, such as the rise of mobile Internet usage on smartphones, Google adapted its core business model from one providing search based advertising into that of a mobile and cloud based software and hardware developer. It’s Android mobile OS, Chrome web browser, and vast number of online services now directly compete with companies, such as Apple and Microsoft, traditionally outside of its core market. All of this historical evidence makes the statement above by a high level Google Europe executive that much more surprising for its narrow mindedness and complete lack of basis.
I’ve been reading about the decline of the desktop computer for years. Once a bulky box on which heavy CRT monitors sat, the desktop evolved into the class of sleek tower PC’s to which we’re now all familiar. And this evolution continues, as small form factor desktops continue their development. Somehow, throughout 30 years of computer industry progression, the desktop has survived – and for several reasons.
Let’s start with the obvious. It’s called a desktop because it sits on or near a desk. Desks throughout history have been where people do work, thus the productivity tools offered by computing in general were and still are a perfect match for this setting. The ubiquity of cubicles and offices with desktop computers in business is undeniable. The desktop is well suited for the business environment. Its a proven stable platform with mature technology and non-premium pricing that typically lasts for several years, a dream machine for business technology procurement agents. For many people not living on the “cutting edge” of PC technology, the desktop computer provided for them at their job is where they spend the majority of their computing-time.
Desktops serve other important computing roles not well suited to portables or cloud based services. They’re typically the most powerful platforms available. Engineers, designers, graphics artists, gamers, and anyone needing to run the most processor intensive tasks rely on desktop computers to run their software. Their volume is a necessary attribute. Nobody’s squeezing a liquid cooled heat-pipe into a laptop.
Now I’m the first to admit the benefits of cloud based computing and the products that use it. It’s convenient and innovative. But some may be concerned with the general loss in direct control of their data. Cloud outages effect vast numbers of people, many of which may have been clinging to a false sense of data security. Well secured data on a desktop computer remains in direct control of its owner.
So let’s not count out the desktop computer just yet. Definitely not within the next 3 years. While overall consumer demand may continue to drop, its important to remember that there are many well-matched market segments for desktop computers.
One of the worst aspects of closely following the tech industry is the waiting. Waiting for technological developments and integration. Waiting for product announcements. Waiting for product releases. It could seriously drive a person mad. Since CES, we’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of several digital media players, such as D-Link’s Boxee Box, the similarly spec’d Nuu Media Player, and Syabas’ PopBox. Any of these could go a long way in fulfilling certain “resolutions”, and could displace most of the existing, confusing, and bloated digital media streamer market. But they’ll each have to live up to their hype. And until any of these devices is released, we’ll continue to wait and wonder as yet another digital media player enters the fray – this time by ASUS.
The ASUS EeeMedia EM0501 media player is debuting at CeBIT 2010 in Germany. While details on the device are sparse, the EM0501 will have an impressive 800MHz ARM processor with 512MB RAM and space for a 2.5″ SATA hard drive. The device will include wired Ethernet and support the standard array of 1080p HD H.264, WMV, MPEG, DivX, Xvid, VOB, and MKV encoded content. Thus far, price and availability haven’t been confirmed, but if ASUS track record is any indication (Eee Keyboard release pushed back to April), you should be able to buy this thing by 2012. Unfortunately, wireless connectivity seems to have eluded this device, so start stringing cable if you’re interested.
We all have ideas. Sometimes they’re good. Sometimes they’re bad. And sometimes we think they’re good even if they suck. Faced with the simple problems we all encounter each day, its common to rhetorically state how “it would be nice if ____” (fill in the blank). The only problem with these spontaneous ideas is our biased judgement or dismissal of them.
Now there’s a simple way to submit these fleeting thoughts to the masses for scrutiny or acclaim. Just check out ItWouldBeNiceIf.com. Users can rate the ideas of others as they relate to various cliché statements, or submit their own. It’s a fun way to see what others are thinking about different topics and find out if your ideas are popular. The site just launched, so the those of you that check it out now have a unique chance to “get in early” and predispose the initial topics and trends.
If I was even a remotely sentimental person, I’d probably have a tear welling up in my eye while writing this. Today, NASA conducted what is effectively the final test burn of the reusable solid rocket boosters used to thrust the Space Shuttle into orbit. The test, carried out by ATK Launch Systems in Utah and the 52nd of its kind, fired the rocket for 123 seconds, the exact amount of time the solid rocket boosters burn during liftoff. All test parameters were successfully met, thus clearing the way for the final shuttle launch later this year.
“The space shuttle’s reusable solid rocket motor is the largest solid rocket motor ever flown, the only one rated for human flight and the first designed for reuse. Each shuttle launch requires the boost of two reusable solid rocket motors to lift the 4.5-million-pound shuttle vehicle. During space shuttle flights, solid rocket motors provide 80 percent of the thrust during the first two minutes of flight. Each motor, the primary component of the shuttle’s twin solid rocket boosters, generates an average thrust of 2.6 million pounds and is just over 126 feet long and 12 feet in diameter.”
For many people including myself, the Space Shuttle is the only crewed American space vehicle we’ve ever known. I grew up awed by spectacular launches viewed on TV, and for years displayed posters of both day and nighttime shuttle launches on the walls of my bedroom. The shuttle’s unique aerodynamic form, strongly defined by its solid rocket boosters and winged glider, was the world’s first spacecraft that departed from the familiar “pod-on-a-pole” configuration used by NASA’s prior space missions. Because of its resemblance to fighter jets and futuristic sci-fi spaceships, imaginations could easily cling and relate to what the shuttle represented and the dreams it imposed.
Although upgraded several times throughout its three decades of operation, the shuttle and its portion of the American space program remained vastly unchanged. It represents a culture whose space exploration goals were lofty and required equally lofty machinery to meet them. But instead of building upon the huge potential of the Space Shuttle as a stepping stone for further reaching manned space exploration, NASA’s priorities languished as a reflection of decreasing popular, and thus congressional, support. The shuttle, at least until the International Space Station came along, was reduced to a ship without a port. NASA now seems more committed than ever to explore the solar system with unmanned robots.
Who knows, maybe these space robots will inspire the next generation in some unforeseen way. Maybe the next hit sci-fi series will be about a lonesome rover roaming a distant planet. Either way, the Space Shuttle’s inspirational legacy won’t soon be forgotten.
There’s been a lot of buzz lately surrounding Silicon Valley’s Bloom Energy. The company, having recently been featured on 60 Minutes (see video below), held a press conference today formally announcing the product it has been developing for eight years. With initial investors and early adopters like Google, Ebay (whose campus hosted the press event), and Walmart on hand, Bloom Energy revealed to the world the Bloom Server, a solid oxide fuel cell based device that acts as a “distributed power generator, producing clean, reliable, affordable electricity at the customer site.”
The promise of fuel cells has been around for generations. Unfortunately, their high development, infrastructure, and material costs have severely limited their widespread adoption. Bloom Energy, through a proprietary and efficient solid oxide fuel cell manufacturing process that uses inexpensive materials like ordinary sand, has developed a sustainable product that can be affordably manufactured and runs on either conventional fossil fuels or renewable energy sources.
“For decades, experts have agreed that solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) hold the greatest potential of any fuel cell technology. With low cost ceramic materials, and extremely high electrical efficiencies, SOFCs can deliver attractive economics without relying on [combined heat and power schemes]. But until now, there were significant technical challenges inhibiting the commercialization of this promising new technology. SOFCs operate at extremely high temperature (typically above 800°C). This high temperature gives them extremely high electrical efficiencies, and fuel flexibility, both of which contribute to better economics, but it also creates engineering challenges. Bloom has solved these engineering challenges. With breakthroughs in materials science, and revolutionary new design, Bloom’s SOFC technology is a cost effective, all-electric solution.”
And while the company would like a version of the Bloom Server to ultimately power homes in the U.S., Europe, and beyond, consumer grade products aren’t expected for at least a decade. Instead, Bloom will continue to sell its 100kW devices to the very largest energy consumers for around $750,000 each, just as it has already with Ebay, Google, and Walmart, amongst others. While that price may seem steep, Bloom cited an approximate $0.03 – $0.05 per kWh savings in the electricity generated by the Bloom Server compared to that of the average utility company. Using this savings rate, some interesting (although crude) calculations can be made.
With a $0.05/kWh savings rate, each 100kW Bloom Box running at full capacity will save its user approximately $3600 per month (100kW x 720hrs x $0.05/kWh). Since around half of the $750,000 device cost is subsidized by state and federal grants, companies could recoup their initial $375,000 investment in around 8.5 years. Not bad. Scaling these calculations down to the approximately 1kW capacity Bloom Server indicative of an average home’s needs, users could expect to pay $7500 for a device that will pay for itself in under a decade, after which it will reduce their electricity costs by approximately a third. Bloom’s largest challenge is admittedly continuing to drive costs down.
But again, residential uses of Bloom’s technology are likely several years away. Instead, the company will sell the devices to commercial users, possibly including the very power generation companies with which the Bloom Server will compete. It would benefit power companies greatly to invest in and install these energy servers in remote or heavily consumptive energy regions, thus reducing the use of costly and wasteful existing energy transmission systems, compared to which Bloom claims its energy servers are twice as efficient.
With Bloom’s announcement, the future of the clean energy movement got a substantial boost today. In what is one of the most promising potential changes to our highly embedded energy infrastructure, Bloom has reinvigorated the industry. Coupled with other clean and renewable energy technologies like IBM’s solar cells made from Earth-abundant materials and New Energy Technology’s kinetic energy harvesting MotionPower pads, Bloom’s technology will allow our future to be literally as bright as we’d like.
Here’s a perfect example of a product being developed for no practical reason other than to prove that it can be done. Don’t get me wrong, 256GB of flash storage squeezed into a USB thumb drive is technologically cool and all, but in the infamous words of former Philadelphia Eagles’ running back Ricky Watters, “For who? For what?”
The culprit here is Kingston Technology Co., which recently announced that it began shipping its new line of DataTraveler 310 USB flash drives within the U.S. These 256GB thumb drives, the largest ever available in the U.S., pose several problems associated with their practicality, IMO of course.
Assuming someone actually needs 256GB of portable and pocketable storage, the risks of putting that much information on a USB flash drive are huge. Although the DataTraveler 310 clocks respectable 25MB/s and 12MB/s idealized data read-write transfer rates (although nowhere near Corsair’s 128GB USB 2.0 flash drive), filling a 256GB drive at these speeds will still require almost six hours, making a full backup of the device difficult at best. The availability of USB 3.0 capable portable hard drives and flash drives offer far better performance for drives with comparable capacity.
Can you imagine the implications of loosing a device on which 256GB of data resides? One ripped pocket or misplaced lanyard could create a panic far worse than that caused by a lost set of car keys or cell phone. Fortunately, the DataTraveler 310 is outrageously priced at $1108, effectively pricing itself out the market and thus preventing folks from falling into its potential data-loss trap. I’ll definately be sticking with my managable 8GB flash drive for the forseeable future.
Remember when telephone numbers were linked to static geographic locations? Fortunately, the rise of mobile communications forever changed the concept of dialing a phone number from calling a place to one of calling an individual. Yet many people still have multiple telephone numbers by which they communicate. Google Voice attempts to aggregate these various means of voice communication into one unified platform that’s easy to use and offers uniquely desirable features.
The great thing about Google Voice, besides the fact that it’s free, is all of its features. Since it’s based on VoIP technology, which turns voice communications into digital packets of information, all kinds of features and uses based on manipulation of voice data are possible. But fully understanding all of the features of Google Voice can be a daunting task. To ease the pain of adopting this new technology, Google today released a series of short instructional videos to explain and demonstrate the technology. Check them out here.
With the pace of technology moving as fast as it does, early adopters often find themselves committed to one of several competing technologies that may not survive to large scale maturity (think HD-DVD vs Bluray). Because of this, it’s really easy to appreciate devices that combine compatibility between rival platforms, thus offering a hedge to early adopters who may not want to risk owning potentially obsolete gear.
Given that there are presently two types of next generation wireless data network currently in deployment (WiMAX and LTE), news of a partnership between Beceem Communications and Motorola to “pair Motorola’s advanced 4G WiMAX infrastructure with Beceem’s upcoming BCS500 4G chip” is very exciting. The single-chip solution will allow manufacturers to develop products capable of operating within both types of network, with the convenient ability to “handoff between WiMAX and LTE” networks depending on which type of connection is performing best. The BCS500 chip should go into production in the middle of 2011, so let’s get some mobile devices designed around this thing, pronto.
According to an FCC statement released today [pdf], more than 100 million Americans should have access to an at least 100Mbps broadband Internet connection by 2020. Sounds great, right? We’ll all be streaming high definition video over the Internet with enough bandwidth to spare for any social networking or cloud computing needs that may arise within the next decade.
Unfortunately, unless the FCC has plans to become an ISP, the commission’s recommendations may not garner much traction with current broadband providers, who actually have to figure out how to provide this augmented service. And while technologies like Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) and DOCSIS 3.0 cable modems have given providers like Verizon the means to vastly upgrade and invest in their network infrastructure, thus providing more and enhanced services to consumers that could meet the 100Mbps FCC goal, the widespread rural roll-outs of this infrastructure necessary to reach 100 million people have not commenced. From the prepared remarks of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski…
“Our plan will set goals for the U.S. to have the world’s largest market of very high-speed broadband users. A ‘100 Squared’ initiative — 100 million households at 100 megabits per second — to unleash American ingenuity and ensure that businesses, large and small, are created here, move here, and stay here.”
In reality, 100Mbps for 100 million Americans should have been this country’s goal for today set ten years ago. Presently, the U.S. is so far behind the rest of the developed world in broadband penetration and speed that the FCC’s seemingly robust recommendations will only continue to forstall US broadband supremacy. In 2020, it’s very likely that 100Mbps will considered as slow as we currently consider the once blazing fast 56kbps dial-up modem. Even Google has committed to providing up to 500,000 people an up to 1Gbps broadband Internet connection in a pilot program to test advanced Internet technologies. That connection is 10 times faster than what the FCC is currently proposing, proving that it’s up to the innovation and recognition by private industry that a robust, far reaching, and high speed national broadband network is imperative to the continued economic viability of the country.
