Technology

Software manufacturer Apple has reportedly decided to push forward the launch of its latest iPhone 5S in order to switch to a larger screen size.

Apple was expected to launch its latest mobile phone in September or October. However, the company is speculated to delay the release so as to give it more time to make a switch from 4 inch screen size to 4.3 inches, Cnet reports.

According to the report, the iPhone 5S release has been pushed to the end of the year.

Meanwhile, budget iPhones will be released by October as expected with no change in the design.

Loss of woodlands in Africa may impact the climate, as forests store carbon in their stems and branches, which helps to reduce the amount of harmful carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere, a study has suggested.

A pioneering study of African savannas by the University of Edinburgh has revealed deforestation in south-central Africa, driven by rising populations in the aftermath of war, and increasing demand for trees for agriculture and fuel, threatens the ecosystem and the livelihood of populations.

Scientists have found that large portions of the X chromosome -long perceived as the “female” counterpart to the male-associated Y chromosome – have evolved to play a specialized role in production of sperm.

This surprising finding is paired with another unexpected outcome: despite its reputation as the most stable chromosome of the genome, the X has actually been undergoing relatively swift change.

Taken together, these results suggest that it’s time to re-examine the biological and medical importance of the X chromosome.

A new touchscreen display, which is capable of identifying fingerprints, is closer to reality.

Not only will the display redefine online security but could revolutionise the way in which humans and computers interact in the public sphere.

Current touchscreens emit light but are not able to sense it, which makes it impossible to identify fingerprints unless a supplemental sensor is added.

Researchers Christian Holz of the Hasso Plattner Institute in Germany told New Scientist that these touchscreens cannot scan fingerprints and fingerprint sensors are not able to show images.

Kerala’s IT exports are expected to grow by 50 percent this fiscal, according to Nasscom.

Addressing reporters here Monday, Nasscom president Som Mittal said that Kerala’s IT exports crossed Rs.1 billion in the last fiscal and would grow by 50 percent this fiscal.

“Things are getting better in Kerala with more than 500 IT companies employing over 80,000 people. Giant companies like Microsoft are also looking at Kerala,” Mittal said.

Mittal was in the state capital for the inauguration of the fifth regional council of Nasscom by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

Personal computer sales in Asia Pacific, excluding Japan, face challenges such as uncertainty over an education project in India and economic conditions in China, global research firm IDC has said.

Asia Pacific PC market reported tepid sales in April-June 2013 due to a slowing economy in China pulling the entire region down despite growth in India that saw shipments for a large education notebook project.

The last 250 remaining Iberian lynxes in the wild are likely to get extinct within 50 years, as the effects of climate change were not taken into account while drawing up the preventive measures, according to a study.

The study said that if the current management had taken them into account the population might have seen an increase new international study.

As India prepares to launch its Rs 450 crore mission to Mars this year, a top space official says the country’s first martian odyssey–that has attracted some criticism–is not just for pride but for undertaking “meaningful research”.

K Radhakrishnan, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO), also debunked perception in some quarters that the Mars Orbiter mission around the red planet, that’s just three months away, is primarily a “feel-good” package to just pat ourselves on the back.

Millions of mobile phones may be vulnerable to spying due to the use of an outdated 1970-era cryptography technique, according to a new research.

The research, due to be presented at an upcoming Black Hat security conference in the US, cites phones running the risk of their security being breached due to use of the old cryptography technique.

Cryptography allows communication to take place securely over a mobile network.

The marriage of technology and weaponry is helping in the development of ‘smart’ guns, which promises to boost security, improve accuracy – and make guns even deadlier.

The newly unveiled ‘supergun’ from TrackingPoint, which emulates the target-locking technology from jets to turn any rifle into an ultra-accurate sniper gun capable of consistently hitting a target from 1.75 miles away, Fox News reported.

Another example of the technological advanced gun has a geo-location system that tracks a gun and can remotely lock it (or fire it).

The marriage of technology and weaponry is helping in the development of ‘smart’ guns, which promises to boost security, improve accuracy – and make guns even deadlier.

The newly unveiled ‘supergun’ from TrackingPoint, which emulates the target-locking technology from jets to turn any rifle into an ultra-accurate sniper gun capable of consistently hitting a target from 1.75 miles away, Fox News reported.

Another example of the technological advanced gun has a geo-location system that tracks a gun and can remotely lock it (or fire it).

An Indian scientist has come up with a novel method to purify water using the peels of apples and tomatoes.

Ramakrishna Mallampati, a PhD candidate at the National University of Singapore (NUS), experimented with water treatment techniques using materials that are easily available.

This is the first time that the peels of the two fruits have been used to remove different types of pollutants in water.

The studies were conducted under the guidance of Associate Professor Suresh Valiyaveettil of the Department of Chemistry at the NUS Faculty of Science.

The new Apple TV may have gesture control as one of its features, according to fresh rumours sparked off by sources close to the company.

Taking food to festivals or on holiday even during the hottest of days will soon be easier, as a new non-electric cooler bag designed by a Finnish firm can keep food chilled for at least 4-5 days.

The innovation dubbed “super cooler bag” has been designed by the Icebridge Oy company based in Tuusula, near Helsinki, news website goodnewsfinland.com reported.

Company CEO Jukka Hämäläinen said a “non-electric cooling system” developed by the company can be used in many different applications, such as in cooler bags.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has clarified that it is going to inspect the emergency locator beacons on U.S. jetliners, while denying to any speculations made on their removal from the Boeing 787 series.

Earlier, the emergency devices were blamed for a fire in a parked Boeing 787 at the London airport on July 12.

FAA said that it is working closely with the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch into the Ethiopian Airlines fire probe, the Fox News reports.

The prevention of timely flood warnings has been reportedly attributed to a lack of co-operation between South Asian countries.

Met officials have said that sharing of hydrological data can be a sensitive issue because of disputes over water use and a network is required to share data across borders, however, countries in the region are doing very little to help each other forecast floods, BBC reports.

Chimpanzees and orangutans have the human-like ability to remember events that happened years ago, a new study has found.

Memories in humans often surface unexpectedly in response to sensory triggers: perhaps a unique flavour or scent. Now, researchers have found that chimpanzees and orangutans have similar capacities.

In laboratory tests, both primate species were clearly able to recollect a tool-finding event that they had experienced just four times three years earlier and a singular event from two weeks before, researchers said.

Evolution is not being able to keep up pace with climate change, researchers have claimed.

John Wiens, an ecology and evolutionary biology professor at the University of Arizona, and Ignacio Quintero, said that most of the vertebrates will have to speed up their evolution rate 10,000 times to match the rate of global warming, Discovery News reported.

He and his team looked at 17 groups of animals, consisting of 540 species, including amphibians, birds, reptile and mammals, to determine their adaptation to climate changes in the past.

‘Self replicating’ robotic space probes from alien civilisations could already have arrived in our solar system – but we don’t have the advanced technology to detect them, a new study has claimed.

Researchers from Edinburgh University believe alien races could have used the gravity of stars to ‘slingshot’ probes in order to gain speed, a technique humans already use for probes, such as the Voyager.

The Voyager space probe uses a ‘slingshot’ technique but uses planets rather than stars as the Scotland-based mathematicians suggest, ‘The Independent’ reported.

Scientists in Israel have integrated cardiac cells with gold nanofibers to form functional engineered tissues.

Dr. Tal Dvir and his PhD student Michal Shevach of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology and the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, together with their colleagues were the people behind this endeavour.

The team’s goal is to optimize electrical signalling between cells.

Dvir said that gold has been found to increase the connectivity of biomaterials.

Google has updated its Maps app specifically for summer travels by including features like live incident reports, and identifying places to eat and visit.

According to the ABC News, the feature which is now made available for Android phones and tablets along with iPhone and iPads offers more traffic data apart from the usual reliable maps showing incident warnings, road closures and construction.

The updated app will also alert users if there immediately becomes a better route to avoid traffic and additionally offers users avoid bad places to eat or stay.

China now has the maximum number of internet users who access the net through their smartphones, latest figures reveal.

According to the China Internet Network Information Centre, China has 591 million internet users out of which 464 million access the net via smartphones or other wireless devices, the BBC reports.

It shows a 10 percent rise than last year and indicates 44 percent of the country”s population uses the web and other net services.

A recent study has revealed that eye-tracking technology could be vital for creating an authentication system that doesn’t rely on passwords.

Passwords are still the most common electronic authentication systems, protecting everything from our bank accounts, laptops and email to health information, utility bills and, of course, our Facebook profiles.

While fingerprint, eye and face-recognition authentication technology is progressing, these biometric security systems haven’t yet gone mainstream.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) Wednesday said research and development programme will continue to find solutions to problems related to water resources.

The CCEA approved an outlay of Rs.360 crore during the 12th Plan (2013-17).

The scheme aims at finding solutions to water related problems due to rapid population growth, urbanization, industrialization and climate change.

It also focuses on improving available technologies to achieve optimal efficiency and economy in planning, design, construction and operation of water resources projects.

IANS

Recent observations of the galactic center have revealed that parts of the in-falling gas cloud, which was detected in 2011, have already swung past the black hole at the heart of our Milky Way.

The cloud, known as G2 is now being stretched out like a piece of spaghetti by the black hole’s extreme gravity.

Due to the tidal force of the gravity monster, the gas cloud has become further stretched, with its front moving now already 500 km/s faster than its tail.