January 2020 show notes
For more about me, see: https://ralphbond.wixsite.com/aboutme
During my years at Intel I worked for the broadcast team where I developed a love for radio. Today I am keeping that passion alive by appearing each month on the Computer America Show as the team’s Science and Technology Trends Correspondent. Click the “Computer America Radio” tab to hear my appearances on the show, and access the show notes packed with lots of great information. And, starting June 7, 2019 I began making appearances on the Mark Mason show, KEX 1190 AM, Portland, Oregon.
Story 1: Amazon, Apple, and Google want all smart devices talk to each other
Source: Recode Story by Rani Molla
- You’ll someday be able to use whichever smart home devices you want, regardless of which smart assistant you use.
- In a rare show of unity, Google, Amazon, and Apple have joined forces to create a new standard for communicating with smart home devices.
- They’re attempting to simplify what is currently a siloed and confusing experience for people trying to set up smart homes: Not all smart devices work with all smart assistants or smart speakers.
- The Connected Home over IP project will be free for any maker of smart home devices.
- For example, with the new standard a smart light manufacturer will only have to use one connectivity standard in order for its lights to communicate with Google Assistant, Alexa, and Siri.
- Right now, that manufacturer would have to use three separate communications protocols to do so, which is expensive and time-consuming.
- When will this happen?
- The group plans to release a draft of the standard and a “preliminary reference open source implementation” in late 2020
- It could take years before consumers will have widespread access to universal smart devices.
Story 2: 7 Technology Innovations Are Coming to Disrupt the Construction Industry in 2020
Source: Autodesk’s Redshift online zine Story by Rosa Trieu
Link: https://www.autodesk.com/redshift/construction-technology-2020/
Let’s talk about 3 of the 7:
- Smart wearables are gaining traction, such as exoskeleton suits that allow construction workers to lift up to 200 pounds.
- By bearing less weight, workers can experience less muscle fatigue and reduce the chances of occupational injury.
- It’s no wonder Ford factory workers are already using them.
- 5G networks are expected to launch across the world in 2020 and will make it possible for further development of tele-remote equipment and robotics that can recognize signals, receive input, map coordinates or instructions, make split-second decisions, and share communication.
- Roads made of post-consumer plastic waste: The world’s first installation was in Zwolle, Netherlands, in the form of a 98-foot bike path.
- The road has sensors that collect data (to use for further development) and its own stormwater-management system.
Story 3: IBM’s new cobalt-free battery uses materials extracted from seawater
Source: Venture Beat, based on IBM press release
Let’s set the stage:
- As the market for electric vehicles continue grow rapidly, demand for cobalt, an ingredient for making lithium-ion batteries will explode
- Cobalt is mainly found in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and shortages are soon expected
- So, top battery makes are scrambling to reduce cobalt content in lithium-ion batteries.
One possible solution:
- IBM has come up with a new battery technology that uses materials extracted from seawater and requires no cobalt
- They hope in a year or so to have a working prototype
- The real kicker: BM said its technology has proven to outperform lithium-ion batteries in cost, charging time, and energy efficiency.
Story 4: Interpreter mode, Google Assistant’s real-time translation feature is now available for iOS and Android devices
Source: MSPower Story by Pradeep
- Google has introducing a new feature for its Google Assistant app for Apple and Android phones called interpreter mode.
- Interpreter mode is a real-time translation feature that will allow you to have a back and forth conversation with someone speaking a foreign language.
- To enable this mode, you just need to say “Hey Google, be my French translator” or “Hey Google, help me speak Spanish” to your Google Assistant.
- After each translation, the Assistant sometimes can also offer Smart Replies that will help you to quickly respond without speaking.
- According to Google, Interpreter mode can help you translate across 44 languages.
- Interpreter mode also features different ways to communicate suited to your situation: you can type using a keyboard for quiet environments, or manually select what language to speak.
Story 5: Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is developing smart trash-sorting robots
Source: MSN News Story by Georgina Torbet
- Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has engineers working on what they call The Everyday Robot Project.
- Their first effort is to teach a humanoid-like robot to sort through trash and recycle bins — and remove items that were placed in the wrong receptacle.
- To date, sorting robots need to identify an item using a fixed scan code, or exact image of each item. Think of a robot scanning bar codes to sort packages.
- So, for trash sorting, to date, you’d need a specific scan code or specific image of a soda pop can so the robot would know it’s not a paper cup.
- In contrast, the new Alphabet project robot is being trained to learn by trial and error.
- For example, the robots are learning about plastic cups in general, instead of having to recognized only a pre-programmed specific cup.
- This is an example of “machine learning” related to Artificial Intelligence
- The key: The robots are “learning” in a fashion similar to the way we humans learn.
- The results so far: the robots reduced the amount of waste that should not have been in a recycling bin from 20 percent to less than 5 percent.
Story 6: World’s first all-electric seaplane set for takeoff in Richmond
Source: CBC
- In December, Vancouver BC-based Harbour Air founder Greg McDougall conducted the first flight of what the company claims is the world’s first fully electric commercial aircraft.
- McDougall flew solo in a six-passenger float plane that has been retrofitted with a 750-horsepower electric motor and batteries.
- The motor was created by Washington state-based MagniX
- If all goes well, McDougall figures it will take about two years to have his e-plane certified for commercial use, with a range of 100 miles [short hop flights]
- He says besides financing, the biggest hurdle to getting the e-plane off the ground was figuring out the best batteries for flying.
- His team settled on a NASA-approved lithium ion system that was used on the space station.
- Watch for more developments with electric aircraft this decade: giant electric drone taxis, more commercial aircraft, etc.
Story 7: Airlines are trading watch towers for virtual screens to control taxiway traffic
Source: ABC News
- We’re all familiar with the big air traffic control towers at airports.
- In addition to these towers you’ll also often find Ramp Control Towers
- Ramp Control Towers handle traffic from the entry/exit spots on the airfield to the gates.
- Those ramp control towers could soon be traded for virtual towers where operators in a room filled with banks of panoramic-view, ultra-high-resolution screens will be able to direct taxiway traffic.
- It’s already happening at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston where United Airlines has launched its own virtual ramp control tower to quickly move passengers aboard their planes to and from the taxiway.
- Okay, why? What’s the benefit of using a “virtual” Ramp Control Tower?
- Virtual ramp towers could make a lot of sense for smaller airports across the country which often don’t have the space to create new multi-million-dollar towers.
- United officials said they believe this technology will speed up the landing and takeoff process for passengers.
Story 8: Bridgestone to Demonstrate Airless Tire, Proactive Technology at CES
Source: Modern Tire Dealer Magazine – Company press release
- At the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, Bridgestone Corp. is showcased its portfolio of advanced air-free tires, including concepts for personal mobility and commercial fleet applications. ***I have a few more CES stories to share at the end.
- The goal is to demonstrate how airless tires “combine a tire’s tread and wheel into one durable, high-strength structure“.
- This design eliminates the need for tires to be filled and maintained with air — and essentially erases the dangers and downtime associated with a flat tire.
- And on the technology side of things, the company is embedding digital sensors in the new integrated wheel/tires to monitor road conditions and the state of the airless tire unit.
- Bridgestone contends this technology will be important for driverless autonomous vehicles.
Story 9: An Energy Breakthrough Could Store Solar Power for Decades
Source: Bloomberg Businessweek Story by Adam Popescu
- Scientists at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg have figured out how to harness solar energy and keep it in reserve so it can be released on demand in the form of heat—even decades after it was captured.
- The innovations include an energy-trapping molecule, a storage system that promises to outperform traditional batteries, and an energy-storing laminate coating that can be applied to windows and textiles.
- The system starts with a liquid molecule made up of carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen.
- When hit by sunlight, the molecule draws in the sun’s energy and holds it until a catalyst triggers its release as heat.
- The researchers spent almost a decade and $2.5 million to create a specialized storage unit that has the stability to [far] outlast the 5-to 10-year life span of typical lithium-ion batteries on the market today.
Story 10: Job recruiters are using AI in hiring
Source: Vox Story by Rebecca Heilweil
Link: https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/12/12/20993665/artificial-intelligence-ai-job-screen
- Job recruiters are increasingly using AI to make the first round of cuts and to determine whether a job posting is even advertised to you.
- Often trained on data collected about previous or similar applicants, these tools can cut down on the effort recruiters need to expend in order to make a hire.
- In 2018, 67 percent of hiring managers and recruiters surveyed by LinkedIn said AI was saving them time.
- But critics argue that such systems can introduce bias, lack accountability and transparency, and aren’t guaranteed to be accurate.
Story 11: Computer scientists develop new tool that generates videos from themed text
Source: Science Daily Story by Association of Computing Machinery
Link: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191114115844.htm
- A global team of computer scientists from China, Harvard University and Israel have developed “Write-A-Video,” a new tool that generates videos from themed text.
- Using words and text editing, the tool automatically determines which scenes or shots are chosen from a digital video library to illustrate the desired storyline.
- The tool enables novice users to produce quality video montages in a simple and user-friendly manner that doesn’t require professional video production and editing skills.
- With this new tool, the user provides input mostly in the form of editing of text.
- The tool automatically searches for semantically matching candidate shots from a video repository, and then uses an optimization method to assemble the video montage by cutting and reordering the shots automatically.
Story 12: Google’s AI can detect breast cancer more accurately than experts
Source: Engadget Story by Georgina Torbet
Link: https://www.engadget.com/2020/01/01/googles-ai-can-detect-breast-cancer-more-accurately-than-expert/
- DeepMind, a UK-based artificial intelligence company purchased by Google in 2014, has developed an AI model which can identify breast cancer from scans with fewer false positives or false negatives (when cancer is present but isn’t detected) than experts, such as radiologists.
- The company trained its AI using data from patients in both the US and the UK, and showed that it could reduce false positives by 5.7 percent and false negatives by 9.4 percent for patients studied in the US.
- Unlike the human experts, who used patient histories and prior mammograms to make their assessments, the AI only had access to the most recent mammogram of each patient.
- Despite this, the artificial intelligence system was able to make screening decisions with greater accuracy than the experts.
- The developers of the new AI system emphasize that this is early stage research and that more studies and cooperation with healthcare providers will be required before the system is ready for widespread use.
Story 13: Proposed CO2 capture system could reduce truck emissions by 90 percent
Source: Engadget Story by Georgina Torbet
Link: https://www.engadget.com/2019/12/23/epfl-truck-carbon-dioxide-capture-system/
- A significant chunk of carbon dioxide emissions come from the transportation sector.
- Now, researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Lausanne have come up with a new concept for capturing carbon dioxide from truck exhausts which could reduce emissions by up to 90 percent.
- The researchers propose capturing carbon dioxide from a truck’s exhaust pipe and turning it liquid, which is stored in a tank on the vehicle’s roof.
- This liquid carbon dioxide can then be delivered to a service station where it can be reused in various ways, including being turned into conventional fuel.
- How it works: The carbon dioxide capture works by first cooling the gases which are emitted from the exhaust pipe.
- Special absorbent materials then separate the carbon dioxide from other gases like nitrogen and oxygen.
- When it is full, the absorbent material is then heated to extract the carbon dioxide, and heat from the vehicle’s engine is used to compress the carbon dioxide and turn it into liquid.
- That liquid can then be stored in a box attached to the vehicle’s roof until it can be deposited at a service station when the truck refuels.
***Here are a few CES related news items that caught my eye
Story 14: The most important health devices to know about from CES 2020 – CNET
Source: CNET Story by Mercey Livingston and Sara Mitroff
Link: https://www.cnet.com/news/the-most-important-health-tech-at-ces-2020/
- Monitoring blood sugar usually means pricking your finger to get a drop of blood and endless (often pricey) paper strips.
- Now, tech companies are working on non-invasive ways to measure blood sugar.
- Showcased at CES, Glutrac is a smartwatch that purports to measure blood sugar levels in your body.
- The watch collects various vital signs, including heart rate, and then uses an AI algorithm to calculate blood glucose.
- Sensors on the back of the watch can record health data automatically every 15 minutes, and there is a finger sensor next to the watch face where you can take on-demand readings.
- The whole process takes about one minute to measure, analyze in the cloud and deliver measurements.
Story 15: These are the 8 coolest gadgets, cars, and concepts we saw at the biggest tech event of the year
Source: Business Insider Story by Lisa Eadicicco
*** I’ll cover two of the products they cited
Link: https://www.businessinsider.com/ces-2020-highlights-sony-car-segway-s-pod-neon-tvs-2020-1
Sony Vision-S
- One of the biggest surprises of CES was the debut of Sony’s Vision-S, a futuristic prototype car that the company says it will be testing on roads later in 2020.
- The Vision-S comes decked out with 33 sensors for monitoring activity around the car, speakers with 360-degree audio built into every seat, and a giant panoramic screen that stretches across the dashboard.
Hyundai’s flying cars
- Hyundai unveiled its all electric, vertical take-off and landing concept flying taxi at CES, which it will be partnering with ride-hailing giant Uber to deploy as part of a service that could be up and running by 2023.
- The vehicle is designed to fly for up to 60 miles and has a cruising speed of 180 miles per hour. Uber says it hopes to begin demonstration flights this year.
Story 16: CES 2020: highlights, video and news of the most exciting new tech
Source: TechRadar Story by Nick Pino and James Peckham
Link: https://www.techradar.com/news/ces-2020-day-3-all-the-latest-news-analysis-and-cool-new-gadgets
Samsung CES 2020: the best thing at the booth is this salad-making Chef Bot
- Samsung’s Chef Bot is comprised of two robotic arms suspended under a cabinet, and over a countertop.
- The TechRadar reporters were able to watch Bot Chef rummage through cabinets, pour ingredients into a pan, and mix them up to create a tofu salad, using AI and computer vision algorithms.
- The tofu salad is one of 35 salad recipes it’s programmed to whip up.
- The bot is run using voice commands.
- Bot Chef has six degrees of freedom, four main arm joints, and three fingers to pinch and hold various kitchen utensils.
- Its diameter and reach is meant to mimic that of human arms.
Lenovo unveiled the world’s first 5G laptop, called the Yoga 5G
- As with other Yoga laptops, this is an ultra-portable 2-in-1 device, with a screen that can be folded backwards to turn it into a tablet
- The Lenovo Yoga 5G is the first laptop to run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx platform, which includes built-in support for 5G connections, allowing the Yoga 5G to connect via a service provider and access super-fast mobile internet.
- And, get this, it offers 24 hour battery life!
- Expected to be available in the first quarter of 2020, price: $1,499