Month: January 2016

Audi

Audi's h-tron quattro fuel cell concept.

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It seems like most of the auto industry is getting hydrogen fever, and we can now add Audi and Mercedes-Benz to that list. Audi used last week's North American International Auto Show in Detroit to debut its h-tron Quattro fuel cell SUV concept, and the UK's Autocar is reporting that Mercedes-Benz has green-lit for production a fuel cell version of its GLC SUV.

Audi's h-tron Quattro looks fairly similar to the e-tron Quattro concept we saw in Los Angeles, and it presumably uses a lot of the same EV powertrain know-how. A full tank of H₂ gives it a range of 373 miles (600km), and the on-board lithium-ion batteries can also be topped up by the gigantic solar panel on the roof.

Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz told Autocar at the Detroit show that it was in the middle of rolling out the fuel cell-powered GLC, which should be revealed to the world at next year's Frankfurt Auto Show. Mercedes-Benz had previously ventured into the world of H₂ with a fuel-cell version of the B-Class, called the F-Cell. Several years ago, Mercedes-Benz leased 50 F-Cells to environmentalists in California.

(credit: Warner Bros.)

Facebook's lip-service 69p ($1) annual subscription fee for its WhatsApp messaging service has been dropped by the company.

However, the Mark Zuckerberg-run free content ad network has promised that WhatsApp will remain ad-free.

Instead—in a strategy that echoes that of the plans for Facebook's Messenger service—the multinational is hoping to tie-up deals with big name brands, such as airlines and banks, which may prove to be a red flag for privacy campaigners, particularly in Europe.

AMD is working on two versions of its upcoming Polaris graphics architecture: Polaris 10 and Polaris 11. In an interview with VentureBeat, graphics chief Raja Koduri explained that one of those GPUs is aimed at thin-and-light laptops and entry-level desktops, while the the other is a larger, high-performance GPU designed to take back the premium graphics card market currently dominated by rival Nvidia. However, the overall target for Polaris is still "console-class gaming on a thin-and-light notebook."

"We have two versions of these FinFET GPUs. Both are extremely power efficient," said Koduri. "This is Polaris 10 and that’s Polaris 11. In terms of what we’ve done at the high level, it's our most revolutionary jump in performance so far. We've redesigned many blocks in our cores. We’ve redesigned the main processor, a new geometry processor, a completely new fourth-generation Graphics Core Next with a very high increase in performance."

A seperate statement issued by AMD's Robert Hallock confirmed that Polaris will use HBM (high bandwidth memory) or GDDR5, depending on the "market segment."

While it's not long until Microsoft's augmented reality headset HoloLens ships to developers, the company has kept surprisingly quiet about its various hardware and software specifications. However, in an evangelist presentation posted to YouTube (now removed), Microsoft's Bruce Harris revealed a few nuggets of info about the headset, including a modest battery life of roughly five hours.

That five hours of battery life only applies when working on Word documents or e-mail. "Intensive" use—which likely refers to the gaming and 3D applications Microsoft has been using to demo the device—results in a far shorter battery life of two and a half hours. Those hoping for extended HoloLens gaming sessions may be disappointed.

It's not yet clear whether the users will be able to charge the HoloLens while using it, but Harris did mention that it has "no option for a wired connection," which likely refers to data transfer. He also noted that any Bluetooth or Wi-Fi device can talk to HoloLens, and that it'll run any universal Windows 10 app. Multiple headsets can also be linked together locally or via the Internet for a shared experience.

The dentist, Gordon Trent Austin, was indicted in 2009 on multiple counts of assault and battery—including against children. He was also indicted on charges of Medicaid fraud, to which he pleaded guilty in exchange for the other charges being dropped. The Georgia State Board of Dentistry revoked Austin's license later that same year.

In late 2015, the Carrollton, Georgia, man sued the YouTube user and has attempted to lift this person's anonymity by subpoenaing Google.

(credit: Martin Abegglen)

In a 4-3 decision, Massachusetts’ highest court ruled Friday that with a warrant, it's ok for police to search anywhere on a seized phone that may reasonably turn up evidence of the crime under investigation.

In the case of Commonwealth v. Dorelas, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (MSJC) found that because the Boston Police Department (BPD) had a warrant to search a criminal suspect’s seized iPhone, it could access his photos as well.

As the majority opinion found: