Hardware

Is iPhone 5S death-knell for passwords?

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Though there have been a number of devices that incorporate fingerprint scanning technology (most notably, niche laptop models), the iPhone 5S is the device that will bring this technology to the mainstream. And, in doing so, will inspire other device manufacturers to rush their version of this technology to market.

With its move, Apple could end up making the technology commonplace, as rivals might feel compelled to follow suit. It could be only a matter of time before passwords and passcodes are relegated to yesteryear.

Interesting.

The incredible horsepower under the iPhone 5S hood

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The iPhone 5S ships is based on the Apple’s own 64-bit ARM A7 System on a Chip (SoC). This is a major step up in raw processing power.

Biometric authentication requires a significant amount of CPU horsepower to pull off without being sluggish, as would strong end-to-end VPN encryption, both of which are likely necessary for the iPhone to continue to attract corporate attention.

The inclusion of so much horsepower is more than just a nice win for the iPhone line. It’s also a win for the next iPad, as well as a sign that iOS platforms are stepping up in class, rivaling desktop machines and game consoles. More fodder for the folks who champion the opinion that we’ll someday see a convergence of the iOS and Mac OS X platforms. Personally, I don’t see that happening any time soon. I love my MacBook Pro and can’t imagine using my iPad or iPhone in the same way. But I do see the possibility of that changing over time.

Shingled Magnetic Recording will bring 5TB drives next year

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Seagate’s Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) is the latest technology to squeeze every last bit of space out of your hard drive platter. SMR seems to be more of a clever trick than an actual increase in data density.

According to Seagate, its latest 1TB platter 3.5″ drives have shrunk read/write heads as small as they can physically go. Similarly, tracks on those platters are placed as close together as physically possible. Pushing areal density is important to increase overall capacities (no one wants to see more platters per drive), but if we’re at physical limits today then it’s time for some architectural changes to push capacities going forward.

Seagate’s solution is something it calls Shingled Magneting Recording (SMR). The process is pretty simple. Track size is traditionally defined by the size of the write heads, as they are larger than the read heads. The track width is larger than necessary from the perspective of reading data back in order to decrease the chances of reading data from adjacent tracks. Seagate’s SMR exploits this reality.

Interesting article.

Samsung Galaxy Gear

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There have been a number of posts discussing the impact of the release of the Samsung Galaxy Gear and, to a lesser extent, Qualcomm Toq smart watches. Some coverage hails the start of a revolution. But I found Mike Elgan’s ComputerWorld piece much closer to reality.

Press and pundits are treating these new entrants as the beginning of the revolution. But they’re not. They’re throwback, unserious relics from the past. They will both fail in the market. And they don’t represent the awesome smartwatch lineup to come.

If Apple chooses to enter this market, you can bet the farm that they won’t look anything like the Samsung and Qualcomm offerings.

Sony QX smart lens

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Sony announced a new series of lens cameras, designed specifically as smartphone attachments. Each QX lens has no screen and no body. The camera smarts are inside the lens housing, communicating with the smartphone via Bluetooth. There’s an attachment that connects the lens to your phone, though that is not strictly necessary. The QX app converts your smartphone screen into a realtime viewfinder. When you press the shutter release on the lens, a compressed version of the image is sent to your phone’s image library. The full-size images are stored in a memory card on the lens.

I really like this idea, though it is hard to imagine mounting the lens on my phone every time I want to take a picture. Something you might get used to, I suspect, and worth it if the images are significantly better than any I can capture with my phone’s built-in camera.

One aspect that I find most intriguing is the fact that the app can control the lens remotely, with the ability to release the shutter, start/stop movie recordings, and adjust common photographic settings like shooting mode, zoom, Auto Focus area and more. This means I can mount the lens on a tripod, move to a comfortable position, make all my adjustments, then take my shot, all remotely. In addition, this lets me take my shot without touching the lens, avoiding vibrations that might affect focus.

Moore’s Law’s pending demise

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Moore’s Law is foundational to anything and everything to do with technology. In a nutshell, it states that the number of transistors that can fit on an integrated circuit doubles every two years. A more modern definition says that chip performance doubles every 18-24 months. According to Intel’s former chief architect, Moore’s Law is reaching the end of its life. And this has huge implications for the tech industry, which draws its lifeblood from smaller and faster products.

Moore’s law is headed for a cliff. According to Colwell, the maximum extension of the law, in which transistor densities continue doubling every 18-24 months, will be hit in 2020 or 2022, around 7nm or 5nm.

“For planning horizons, I pick 2020 as the earliest date we could call [Moore’s law] dead,” Colwell said. “You could talk me into 2022, but whether it will come at 7 or 5nm, it’s a big deal.”

There are a number of technologies (graphene, III-V semiconductors, carbon nanotubes, etc.) that offer some hope for the continuation of the promise of Moore’s Law, but none has proved practical as of yet.

Body hacker embeds wireless storage device in his hand

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Making the storage and access of data more convenient, artist Anthony Antonellis implanted an RFID chip into his hand that can store data which can be wirelessly accessed by a smartphone.

The chip is the size of a grain of sand and only holds about 1K of data, but it does work. Antonellis can use his smartphone to store data on the chip and retrieve the data as needed. The technology requires him to actually touch the implant with his phone, as the antennae’s reach is about 1 cm.

Student creates printer that swallows stack of paper

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This is a lovely bit of design. Student Mugi Yamamoto created a compact printer which is placed on top of a stack of paper.

When printing, “Stack” slowly moves downwards and swallows the pile until no paper is left.

Really nice.