Wednesday, February 29, 2012

The Raspberry Pi computer goes on general sale

A credit-card sized computer designed to help teach children to code goes on general sale for the first time today.
The Raspberry Pi is a bare-bones, low-cost computer created by volunteers mostly drawn from academia and the UK tech industry.
Sold uncased without keyboard or monitor, the Pi has drawn interest from educators and enthusiasts.
Supporters hope the machines could help reverse a lack of programming skills in the UK.
"It has been six years in the making; the number of things that had to go right for this to happen is enormous. I couldn't be more pleased," said Eben Upton of the Raspberry Pi Foundation which is based in Cambridge
The real task, however, is not about getting the Raspberry Pi out to that impatient crowd of enthusiasts. What matters is the kind of reception the device gets when it arrives in schools”...

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Mobile Phones: Soon To Be Powered By Walking


Like the watches and sensors, most of which are now being powered by kinetic energy, mobile phones will soon be powered by walking. This was revealed recently by the University of Wisconsin team in a published study journal on ‘Nature Communications'
‘'Humans, generally speaking, are very powerful energy-producing machines'' said Professor Tom Krupenkin from the university's Mechanical Engineering Department.
According reports, while sprinting, a person can produce as much as a kilowatt of power hence sprinting, or even walking is capable of generating enough energy to power a mobile phone. That, according to the scientist, is more than enough to power a standard mobile phone.
Although, similar methods exist for low power electronics, up until now there was no practical mechanical to electrical conversion technology that could provide such high levels of output, Prof. Krupenkin explained.
"What's been missing is the power in the watts range," said Dr Ashley Taylor, a colleague of Prof Krupenkin. "That's the power range needed for portable electronics."

Monday, February 6, 2012

Nigeria Plans Fixed Phone Licenses in 2013 to Spur Broadband:

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, plans to give additional fixed-line telephone licenses next year to spur the expansion of broadband Internet infrastructure, the telecommunications regulator said.“The licenses will be issued to revive the fixed-line telecommunication services that have been comatose and will benefit our broadband...