technology

Android nears 80 percent market share as iOS plummets

"Google's Android mobile operating system now accounts for almost 80 percent of the global smartphone market while Apple's slice has shrunk to 13 percent, the latest numbers from market research firm International Data Corp (IDC) have revealed. According to IDC's figures for the global smartphone market during the second quarter, Android's popularity is not slowing with Google's mobile operating system now accounting for 79.3 percent of the smartphone market." Continue reading →

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The real Elysium: Send your dead loved one into space for $2K

"A startup called Elysium Space is offering an easier, cheaper way to get into space – and it will have you there by next year. There is, however, a slight catch. First, you have to die. For $1,990, Elysium Space, which is today announcing itself to the world, will send a portion of your cremated remains – or those of your loved one – into space on a CubeSat that will then orbit the Earth for several months before ultimately re-entering the atmosphere and burning up in in a spectacular blaze. With that entry fee, you’ll also get the opportunity to watch the launch live, and you can track the satellite’s movements via a mobile app." Continue reading →

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10 Awesome Startups That Are Looking To Profit From A New Space Race

"In recent years, some of the most famous names in tech, like Microsoft's Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Google's Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, and Amazon's Jeff Bezos have been founding and investing in companies that are looking to the stars. Whether for personal dreams of adventure or for profit, these companies are doing the engineering and basic science needed to get humans into space. They're also looking at other opportunities that space provides, like access to resources that are hard to get on Earth and the ability to collect information about our planet from a different perspective." Continue reading →

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Railroad To Space: A Low(er) Cost Leap Into The Stars

"It currently costs about $100,000 to send a standard 3-pound satellite into low Earth orbit. Larger masses can be a little bit more affordable, but can still cost up to $5,000 per pound. Lucky for the human race, there are smart people out there trying to solve this problem. One company, HyperV Technologies Corp., has proposed a 'railroad to space using a mechanical hypervelocity launcher to enable large-scale space utilization' that will be only one-hundredth of the cost of the rockets we currently use. Fancy, I know. They’re calling it the Slingatron." Continue reading →

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The Hyperloop: Elon Musk’s futuristic plan to blast Californians through a tube

"The founder of Tesla, SpaceX and Paypal published the design for his futuristic 'Hyperloop' transportation system online. The Hyperloop would use low pressure steel tubes to blast car-sized capsules from one area to another. The system would be entirely powered by its own solar panels. The Hyperloop would be able to transport a person from Los Angeles to San Francisco — a distance of more than 300 miles — in only 30 minutes. Musk previously described the system a cross between a 'Concorde, a railgun, and an air hockey table.'" Continue reading →

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Jeffrey Tucker: How Medical Innovation Redefines Our World

"I suppose I had thought deafness was a permanent accident that humanity would always deal with. Before the late 19th century, people probably thought the same about infant mortality and hundreds of diseases that have since been cured. In the Middle Ages, it must have been this way with tooth pain, the pain of childbirth, and the inability to communicate with anyone outside your immediate vicinity. All human problems seem intractable and perpetual when they are ever-present. But there are always a few among us who do not see problems this way. They see problems as rooted in the lack of some technological solution. And they get to work on a fix." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin Block Time Halved To Five Minutes Amid Exponential Network Growth

"By now, bitcoin enthusiasts and professionals alike are aware of the tremendous growth of the bitcoin network so far this year. As millions of dollars (and bitcoin) are invested in increasingly powerful mining equipment, the cumulative hash rate of the network has continually blown by the periodic difficulty adjustments. Earlier this year we explained the long-term implications of this, but the near term effects are being felt as well. Since that piece was published, the network has continued to grow, as has the growth rate. The average time between blocks has fallen to approximately five minutes on average, half the time bitcoin was originally programmed for." Continue reading →

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High Profile Digital Forensic Services Company SYTECH Embraces Bitcoin

"In August 2013 SYTECH announced its move into Bitcoin: offering data recovery services to salvage coins from damaged hard drives, mobile phones and other storage mediums. SYTECHis accepting Bitcoin as a payment method for its services, and offering a 5% discount to any client who pays in Bitcoin. In a world first, SYTECH has announced a stolen Bitcoin tracing and recovery service; turning its decades of digital forensics expertise to tracing online Bitcoin criminals and recovering stolen Bitcoin for their clients." Continue reading →

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New York’s Crony Motivated Swipe Against the Sharing Economy

"Nigel Warren, an East Village resident, was fined $2,400 for running an illegal hotel because he rented his bedroom out to a visitor for three days. He wasn’t operating a sleazy flophouse, and the entire transaction was markedly casual, but he was prosecuted nonetheless. Warren’s offending transaction took place through Airbnb, an online hostelling website. Airbnb works on a peer-to-peer structure, connecting people with extra space to people who can’t (or don’t want to) shell out for a regular hotel. One can’t help but suspect big hotel powers might be lurking behind a law that forbids short stays anywhere but in hotels." Continue reading →

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Stormy Weather in U.S. Cloud Computing

"A report from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) estimated that if U.S. cloud providers were to lose 10-20% of foreign business, it would cost them anywhere from $21.5-35 billion over the next three years. But their losses present a big opportunity for European and Asian companies to pick up the slack from the growing global cloud market. A market that’s forecast to be worth $148.8 billion in 2014… $160 billion in 2015… and $207 billion in 2016. Artmotion, Switzerland’s largest offshore hosting company, has already scooped up a big portion of the leftovers. Since the Snowden leaks, its revenue has bounced 45% higher." Continue reading →

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