TITAN Super Computer

The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory launched a new era of scientific supercomputing Monday with Titan, a system capable of churning through more than 20,000 trillion calculations each second — or 20 petaflops — by employing a family of processors called graphic processing units first created for computer gaming.

Titan will be 10 times more powerful than ORNL's last world-leading system, Jaguar, while overcoming power and space limitations inherent in the previous generation of high-performance computers

JOOMLA 3.0.1 Security Release

The Joomla Project is pleased to announce the immediate availability of Joomla 3.0.1. This is a security release. This release also fixes several high-priority problems with version 3.0.0. 

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR 3.0.0 SITES: 
If you plan to update a site from 3.0.0 to 3.0.1, you need to install the Joomla 3.0.0 Hot Patch before doing the update to Joomla 3.0.1. See the Hot Patch Instructions for more information. This is NOT required for updating from version 2.5.x.  If you require the FTP layer you will need to manually FTP the update. Also, please note that version 3.0 users need to make sure the Update server is set to "Short Term Support" in the Joomla! Update component. Otherwise, no 3.0.x updates will show.
The Production Leadership Team's goal is to continue to provide regular, frequent updates to the Joomla community.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690

We all knew that NVIDIA was working on a dual-GPU video card to replace the GeForce GTX 590 that was introduced last year, but no one knew when exactly it was coming. We, ourselves, only found out when this card was launching this past Saturday when NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang told the world the news at the GeForce LAN in Shanghai, China.  The company's new video card, the GeForce GTX 690 was designed from the ground up to deliver the highest performance of any graphics card in history. NVIDIA didn't stop there though as they paid special attention to the appearance of the card to ensure that this cards design would be over the top. When a pry bar and a wood crate showed up at our door, we knew this card was something special.

AT&T to flip switch on 4G LTE network

At an event at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, AT&T finally offered details about its plans for 4G coverage. At today's Developer Summit, the telecom giant revealed that it plans to launch its 4G LTE network by the middle of 2011. In addition, AT&T says its HSPA+ deployment—a technology T-Mobile is touting as 4G—now covers "virtually 100 percent of its mobile broadband network" with customers seeing download speeds of up to 6Mbps (T-Mobile's flavor claims to offer download speeds of up to 21Mbps).

4G

In telecommunications, 4G is the fourth generation of cell phone mobile communications standards. It is a successor of the third generation (3G) standards. A 4G system provides mobile ultra-broadband Internet access, for example to laptops with USB wireless modems, to smartphones, and to other mobile devices. Conceivable applications include amended mobile web access, IP telephony, gaming services, high-definition mobile TV, video conferencing and 3D television. Recently, Android and Windows-enabled cellular devices have fallen in the 4G category. One base advantage of 4G is that it can at any point of travelling time provide an internet data transfer rate higher than any existing cellular services (excluding broadband and Wi-Fi connections)

SYMBIAN OS

Symbian is a mobile operating system (OS) and computing platform designed for smartphones and currently maintained by Accenture. The Symbian platform is the successor to Symbian OS and Nokia Series 60; unlike Symbian OS, which needed an additional user interface system, Symbian includes a user interface component based on S60 5th Edition. The latest version, Symbian^3, was officially released in Q4 2010, first used in the Nokia N8. In May 2011 an update, Symbian Anna, was officially announced, followed by Nokia Belle (previously Symbian Belle) in August 2011.

ARM Architecture

ARM (formerly Advanced RISC Machine and Acorn RISC Machine) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) developed by British company ARM Holdings. The ARM architecture is the most widely used 32-bit instruction set architecture in numbers produced.

Originally conceived by Acorn Computers for use in its personal computers, the first ARM-based products were the co-processor modules for the BBC Micro series of computers.

Apple A6 - Chip

The Apple A6 is a system-on-a-chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc. that drives the iPhone 5, which was introduced September 12, 2012. Apple claims that it is twice as fast and has twice the graphics power compared to the Apple A5.

iOS 6 Features

Beautifully designed from the ground up (and the sky down), Maps changes the way you see the world. Map elements are vector based, so graphics and text are incredibly detailed — even when you zoom all the way in — and panning is smooth. Tilt and rotate to view an area, and Maps keeps the names of streets and places where they belong. Get visual and spoken turn-by-turn navigation and real-time traffic updates. Even soar over cityscapes to see the sights from the air in amazing, high-resolution quality.

IOS 6

HISTORY

iOS 6 was previewed on June 11, 2012 during WWDC 2012, with release announced for Fall 2012. Following the pattern of previous iOS releases, older devices are no longer supported, specifically the iPod Touch (3rd generation) and the iPad (original). Supported devices on this release include the iPhone 3GS onwards, the iPod Touch (4th generation) onwards, and the iPad 2 onwards.

IOS (Iphone Operating System)

iOS (previously iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system developed and distributed by Apple Inc. Originally released in 2007 for the iPhone and iPod Touch, it has been extended to support other Apple devices such as the iPad and Apple TV. Unlike Microsoft's Windows CE (Windows Phone) and Google's Android, Apple does not license iOS for installation on non-Apple hardware. As of September 12, 2012, Apple's App Store contained more than 700,000 iOS applications, which have collectively been downloaded more than 30 billion times. It had a 23% share of the smartphone operating system units sold in the first quarter of 2012, behind only Google's Android. In June 2012, it accounted for 65% of mobile web data consumption (including use on both the iPod Touch and the iPad). At the half of 2012, there were 410 million devices activated. According to the special media event held by Apple on September 12, 2012, 400 million devices have been sold through June 2012.

Bluetooth V4.0

The Bluetooth SIG completed the Bluetooth Core Specification version 4.0, which includes Classic Bluetooth, Bluetooth high speed and Bluetooth low energy protocols. Bluetooth high speed is based on Wi-Fi, and Classic Bluetooth consists of legacy Bluetooth protocols. This version has been adopted as of June 30, 2010.

Bluetooth low energy (BLE), previously known as WiBree, is a subset to Bluetooth v4.0 with an entirely new protocol stack for rapid build-up of simple links. As an alternative to the Bluetooth standard protocols that were introduced in Bluetooth v1.0 to v3.0, it is aimed at very low power applications running off a coin cell. Chip designs allow for two types of implementation, dual-mode, single-mode and enhanced past versions. The provisional names Wibree and Bluetooth ULP (Ultra Low Power) were abandoned and the BLE name was used for a while. In late 2011, new logos “Bluetooth Smart Ready” for hosts and “Bluetooth Smart” for sensors were introduced as the general-public face of BLE.

• In a single mode implementation the low energy protocol stack is implemented solely. CSR, Nordic Semiconductor and Texas Instruments have released single mode Bluetooth low energy solutions.
• In a dual-mode implementation, Bluetooth low energy functionality is integrated into an existing Classic Bluetooth controller. Currently (2011-03) the following semiconductor companies have announced the availability of chips meeting the standard: Atheros, CSR, Broadcom and Texas Instruments. The compliant architecture shares all of Classic Bluetooth’s existing radio and functionality resulting in a negligible cost increase compared to Classic Bluetooth.

Cost-reduced single-mode chips, which enable highly integrated and compact devices, feature a lightweight Link Layer providing ultra-low power idle mode operation, simple device discovery, and reliable point-to-multipoint data transfer with advanced power-save and secure encrypted connections at the lowest possible cost.

General improvements in version 4.0 include the changes necessary to facilitate BLE modes, as well the Generic Attribute Profile (GATT) and Security Manager (SM) services with AES Encryption.

Core Specification Addendum 2 was unveiled in December 2011; it contains improvements to the audio Host Controller Interface and to the High Speed (802.11) Protocol Adaptation Layer.

Source : Wikipedia

Bluetooth V3.0 + HS

Version 3.0 + HS of the Bluetooth Core Specification was adopted by the Bluetooth SIG on April 21, 2009. Bluetooth 3.0+HS provides theoretical data transfer speeds of up to 24 Mbit/s, though not over the Bluetooth link itself. Instead, the Bluetooth link is used for negotiation and establishment, and the high data rate traffic is carried over a collocated 802.11 link.

The main new feature is AMP (Alternate MAC/PHY), the addition of 802.11 as a high speed transport. The High-Speed part of the specification is not mandatory, and hence only devices sporting the "+HS" will actually support the Bluetooth over 802.11 high-speed data transfer. A Bluetooth 3.0 device without the "+HS" suffix will not support High Speed, and needs to only support a feature introduced in Core Specification Version 3.0  or earlier Core Specification Addendum 1.

L2CAP Enhanced modes

    Enhanced Retransmission Mode (ERTM) implements reliable L2CAP channel, while Streaming Mode (SM) implements unreliable channel with no retransmission or flow control. Introduced in Core Specification Addendum 1.

Alternate MAC/PHY

    Enables the use of alternative MAC and PHYs for transporting Bluetooth profile data. The Bluetooth radio is still used for device discovery, initial connection and profile configuration, however when large quantities of data need to be sent, the high speed alternate MAC PHY 802.11 (typically associated with Wi-Fi) will be used to transport the data. This means that the proven low power connection models of Bluetooth are used when the system is idle, and the faster radio is used when large quantities of data need to be sent. AMP links require enhanced L2CAP modes.

Unicast Connectionless Data

    Permits service data to be sent without establishing an explicit L2CAP channel. It is intended for use by applications that require low latency between user action and reconnection/transmission of data. This is only appropriate for small amounts of data.

Enhanced Power Control

    Updates the power control feature to remove the open loop power control, and also to clarify ambiguities in power control introduced by the new modulation schemes added for EDR. Enhanced power control removes the ambiguities by specifying the behaviour that is expected. The feature also adds closed loop power control, meaning RSSI filtering can start as the response is received. Additionally, a "go straight to maximum power" request has been introduced. This is expected to deal with the headset link loss issue typically observed when a user puts their phone into a pocket on the opposite side to the headset.

Ultra-wideband

The high speed (AMP) feature of Bluetooth v3.0 was originally intended for UWB, but the WiMedia Alliance, the body responsible for the flavor of UWB intended for Bluetooth, announced in March 2009 that it was disbanding, and ultimately UWB was omitted from the Core v3.0 specification.

On March 16, 2009, the WiMedia Alliance announced it was entering into technology transfer agreements for the WiMedia Ultra-wideband (UWB) specifications. WiMedia has transferred all current and future specifications, including work on future high speed and power optimized implementations, to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), Wireless USB Promoter Group and the USB Implementers Forum. After the successful completion of the technology transfer, marketing and related administrative items, the WiMedia Alliance will cease operations.

In October 2009 the Bluetooth Special Interest Group suspended development of UWB as part of the alternative MAC/PHY, Bluetooth v3.0 + HS solution. A small, but significant, number of former WiMedia members had not and would not sign up to the necessary agreements for the IP transfer. The Bluetooth SIG is now in the process of evaluating other options for its longer term roadmap.

Source : Wikipedia

Implementation of Bluetooth

Bluetooth uses a radio technology called frequency-hopping spread spectrum, which chops up the data being sent and transmits chunks of it on up to 79 bands (1 MHz each; centered from 2402 to 2480 MHz) in the range 2,400–2,483.5 MHz (allowing for guard bands). This range is in the globally unlicensed Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) 2.4 GHz short-range radio frequency band. It usually performs 800 hops per second, with AFH enabled.

Originally Gaussian frequency-shift keying (GFSK) modulation was the only modulation scheme available; subsequently, since the introduction of Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, π/4-DQPSK and 8DPSK modulation may also be used between compatible devices. Devices functioning with GFSK are said to be operating in basic rate (BR) mode where an instantaneous data rate of 1 Mbit/s is possible. The term Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) is used to describe π/4-DPSK and 8DPSK schemes, each giving 2 and 3 Mbit/s respectively. The combination of these (BR and EDR) modes in Bluetooth radio technology is classified as a "BR/EDR radio".

Bluetooth is a packet-based protocol with a master-slave structure. One master may communicate with up to 7 slaves in a piconet; all devices share the master's clock. Packet exchange is based on the basic clock, defined by the master, which ticks at 312.5 µs intervals. Two clock ticks make up a slot of 625 µs; two slots make up a slot pair of 1250 µs. In the simple case of single-slot packets the master transmits in even slots and receives in odd slots; the slave, conversely, receives in even slots and transmits in odd slots. Packets may be 1, 3 or 5 slots long but in all cases the master transmit will begin in even slots and the slave transmit in odd slots.

Bluetooth provides a secure way to connect and exchange information between devices such as faxes, mobile phones, telephones, laptops, personal computers, printers, Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, digital cameras, and video game consoles.

Communication and connection

A master Bluetooth device can communicate with a maximum of seven devices in a piconet (an ad-hoc computer network using Bluetooth technology), though not all devices reach this maximum. The devices can switch roles, by agreement, and the slave can become the master (for example, a headset initiating a connection to a phone will necessarily begin as master, as initiator of the connection; but may subsequently prefer to be slave).

The Bluetooth Core Specification provides for the connection of two or more piconets to form a scatternet, in which certain devices simultaneously play the master role in one piconet and the slave role in another.

At any given time, data can be transferred between the master and one other device (except for the little-used broadcast mode). The master chooses which slave device to address; typically, it switches rapidly from one device to another in a round-robin fashion. Since it is the master that chooses which slave to address, whereas a slave is (in theory) supposed to listen in each receive slot, being a master is a lighter burden than being a slave. Being a master of seven slaves is possible; being a slave of more than one master is difficult. The specification is vague as to required behaviour in scatternets.

Many USB Bluetooth adapters or "dongles" are available, some of which also include an IrDA adapter. Older (pre-2003) Bluetooth dongles, however, have limited capabilities, offering only the Bluetooth Enumerator and a less-powerful Bluetooth Radio incarnation. Such devices can link computers with Bluetooth with a distance of 100 meters, but they do not offer as many services as modern adapters do.

BLUETOOTH 3.0

Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances (using short-wavelength radio transmissions in the ISM band from 2400–2480 MHz) from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks (PANs) with high levels of security. Created by telecoms vendor Ericsson in 1994, it was originally conceived as a wireless alternative to RS-232 data cables. It can connect several devices, overcoming problems of synchronization.

Bluetooth is managed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, which has more than 16,000 member companies in the areas of telecommunication, computing, networking, and consumer electronics. The SIG oversees the development of the specification, manages the qualification program, and protects the trademarks. To be marketed as a Bluetooth device, it must be qualified to standards defined by the SIG. A network of patents is required to implement the technology and are licensed only for those qualifying devices; thus the protocol, whilst open, may be regarded as proprietary.

Name and logo

The word "Bluetooth" is an anglicised version of the Scandinavian Blåtand/Blåtann, the epithet of the tenth-century king Harald I of Denmark and parts of Norway who united dissonant Danish tribes into a single kingdom. The idea of this name was proposed by Jim Kardach who developed a system that would allow cell phones to communicate with computers (at the time he was reading Frans Gunnar Bengtsson's historical novel The Long Ships about Vikings and king Harald Bluetooth) The implication is that Bluetooth does the same with communications protocols, uniting them into one universal standard.

The Bluetooth logo is a bind rune merging the Younger Futhark runes  (Hagall) (*) and  (Bjarkan) (ᛒ), Harald's initials.

Source : Wikipedia

Windows Phone 7.5 (Operating system)

Windows Phone 7.5

7.10.7720 "Windows Phone 7.5" codename "Mango" was announced in February 2011 at the Mobile World Congress. The update was formally announced in New York on May 24, 2011, when Microsoft gave an in-depth preview of the update, shortly before which Steve Ballmer had disclosed that there would be over 500 features. Although the OS internally identifies itself as version 7.1, it is marketed as version 7.5 in all published materials intended for end-users.

Microsoft started rolling out Windows Phone 7.5 to both the United States and International markets on September 27, 2011. The first phones that came pre-loaded with Windows Phone 7.5 were released in the last quarter of 2011.

Messaging and social integration

• Dynamic Live tile information
• Twitter and LinkedIn integration in the People hub.
• Groups: organize contacts by groups which can also be pinned on the start screen.
• Contact cards now include all the contacts conversation history (SMS, emails, MMS, Messenger, etc.)
• Facebook Places check-in support.
• Windows Live Messenger and Facebook Chat integration.
• Threads: all messaging communication organized in a single thread (Messenger, SMS, MMS).
• Threaded email conversations support.
• Outlook tasks support.
• Facebook events integrated into the calendar.
• Linked email accounts: multiple email accounts can be combined and linked into one inbox.[5]
• Built-in voice-to-text/text-to-voice functionality, which will allow for hands-free texting or chatting.
• Server search for Exchange.
• Information Rights Management support for emails and Office documents.
• Visual Voicemail

Search/Bing

• Bing Vision: barcode, covers, posters, products scanning, and OCR text translation.
• Bing Audio / Music: Shazam-like audio recognition.
• Bing Local Scout: "around me" business and POI locator.
• Bing Quick Cards: product/media information, reviews.
• Bing Search: indoor maps (US only), image search results, third-party app integration.
• Bing Maps: turn-by-turn navigation, voice guidance.

Office

• Skydrive and Office 365 documents sync (PDF also supported).
• Excel Mobile now supports adding additional macro functions.
• Microsoft Lync support via downloadable app.
• Added "To-Do" option when editing OneNote pages.
• Removed ability to edit Office documents from versions older than Office 2007.

Photo management

• People / Groups gallery with Skydrive and Facebook sync.
• People tagging in the photos with Skydrive and Facebook sync.
• Photo auto-fix - automatically improves sharpness, brightness, etc.
• Pictures tile is now animated.
• Video sharing via MMS, Facebook, Skydrive, and email.
• Twitter integration—Tweet your pics!
• Integration with the People Hub.
• Quick access to the Camera Roll.
• When you choose a photo from within an app, you can now pick from online albums on Facebook or SkyDrive, not just pictures saved on your phone.
• Pin any album to Start, including Facebook albums.

Multimedia

• Zune SmartDJ mix support.
• Artist picture now displays on lock screen when music is played.
• UI change of the media controls on the lock screen.
• Ability to control video aspect ratio during playback.
• Single music track repeat without having to pin it on the start screen.
• Podcast downloads / subscriptions over the air (US only).
• Open / play media content by voice.
• Ability to create and save playlists.

Marketplace

• Revamped Marketplace UI and search.

Camera

• UI changes (new icons + added arrow icon on the lower left of the viewfinder to indicate camera roll).
• Settings are now saved when the Camera application is closed.
• Disable/enable shutter sound.
• Support for front facing camera.
• Touch focus and capture—Tap any spot on the screen to focus there and take the shot. (This varies according to hardware—some phones will have tap-to-capture but will still automatically center focus.)
• Review pictures above the lock—Snap a photo when your phone is locked, then take a peek at it above the lock. You’ll only be able to get to photos you just took—better for security.
• Changes for portrait orientation—Now, when you take a picture in portrait orientation, you’ll see it in portrait orientation when you review it.

Games

• Redesigned Games hub with integrated 3D avatar and avatar customization.
• Friends and achievements now integrated in the hub.
• Fast Async for multiplayer games.

Internet Explorer 9 Mobile

• Hardware-accelerated rendering.
• Support for HTML5 audio and video playback.
• Background HTML5 audio playback.
• Geolocation support.
• New JavaScript engine.
• New UI with URL bar at the bottom of the screen.
• URL bar is now available in landscape mode.
• Removal of Find on Page feature
• Moved the "tabs" button to a menu item under the application bar.

Security

• Voice commands are now disabled when the device is locked.
• Complex (alpha-numeric) PIN support.

Other changes

• Internet sharing
• Battery saver: phone automatically disables power consuming services and applications running in the background if the battery is low. Also predicts time remaining on battery.
• Ringtone manager with custom and downloadable ringtones.
• The "People" tile has been reworked and is animated differently than before.
• Search icon and quick jump list added to the application list.
• Support for 16 new languages: Czech, Danish, Hungarian, Dutch (Netherlands), Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil, Portugal), Finnish, Swedish, Greek, Russian, Korean, Chinese (Traditional, Simplified), Japanese.
• East Asian handwriting recognition.
• Support for new languages and emoticons in on-screen keyboard.
• Hidden WiFi network support.
• Qualcomm MSM7X30 and MSM8X55 support.
• Programs menu will have alphabetical options similar to the people functionality
• Power off now requires a swipe down gesture after holding down the power button for a few seconds.
• Removal of "soft-on" alarm feature
• Modification of alarm sleep interval

Development API changes and additions

• Third-party application multi-tasking and fast application switching.
• Support for background tasks and services/agents.
• Expanded live tiles that can be updated without network connection and can have two sides which flip periodically.
• App Connect: third-party applications can integrate with Bing search, have multiple live tiles, and can have push notifications that link deep ("Deep Toast") into various parts of the application directly.
• Optional 32 bit color support for Silverlight applications with hardware dithering.
• Silverlight 4 support.
• Silverlight + XNA support in the same application screen.
• Raw camera feed access for third-party applications.
• New sensor API combines compass, gyroscope, and accelerometer.
• Improved Listbox control with better scrolling performance.
• Improved WebBrowser control with IE9 rendering engine and system-wide cookies access.
• Clipboard API.
• Hardware-accelerated video decoding in the MediaPlayer control.
• TCP/IP and UDP sockets support.
• Embedded database with LINQ (based on SQL Server Compact 4.0 engine, but without direct SQL execution).
• Background file transfer agent.
• Generational garbage collector.
• NEON/SIMD support for XNA applications.

Source : Wikipedia

Android (Operating System)

Android is a Linux-based operating system for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, developed by Google in conjunction with the Open Handset Alliance. Android was initially developed by Android Inc, whom Google financially backed and later purchased in 2005. The unveiling of the Android distribution in 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 86 hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. Google releases the Android code as open-source, under the Apache License. The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is tasked with the maintenance and further development of Android.

Android has a large community of developers writing applications ("apps") that extend the functionality of the devices. Developers write primarily in a customized version of Java, and apps can be downloaded from online stores such as Google Play (formerly Android Market), the app store run by Google, or third-party sites. In June 2012, there were more than 600,000 apps available for Android, and the estimated number of applications downloaded from Google Play was 20 billion.

Android became the world’s leading smartphone platform at the end of 2010. For the first quarter of 2012, Android had a 59% smartphone market share worldwide.As of third quarter 2012, there were 480 million devices activated and 1.3 million activations per day.