16 MARCH2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE
Apple Boy
Steveonce
looked into
space...he saw
PabloEscobar with
aphone beyond
anybody’s
imagination”
An advert fortheEscobar Fold 1
phone,developed by Pablo
Escobar’s brother
Ihope you also
knowthat Iam
aperfect candidate
to disrupt this
system,and Ifully
intend to do so”
Cybersecurityluminary
JohnMcAfeewants tobe
the nextUS president
Yo ucan invite
people who
want to be creative,
whodon’twant to be
toxic, and youcreate
an environment
in which people
can express
themselves and
build up a
relationship”
Father Robert Ballecer,tech
blogger turned God fan, has a
Minecraft server set up to be
more welcoming than usual
With the debut
of AI in Go
games, I’ve realised
that I’m not at the
top even if Ibecome
the number one
through frantic
efforts”
Master Go playerLeeSe-dol
admits defeat in the face of
DeepMind’sAlphaGo AI prowess
FOUR-LEGGEDROBOTSfrom
Boston Dynamics are being used
by the Massachusetts StatePolice
as aformof mobile observation
device to sniffout bombs and
enter dangerous environments.
Previously known as the
SpotMini, Boston Dynamics first
showed offthe dog-like robot a
fewyears ago,with asmaller take on aprevious
quadruped robot with an articulated armfor
grabbing and manipulating objects; the robot could
open adoorand getthrough it, forexample.
The original Spot was more of ademo, while the
SpotMini was compact and refinedenough to be
pushed out to organisations keen to put robots to
use.This was amovebyBostonDynamics to see
howthe SpotMini, which has since been renamed to
just Spot, could be used in commercial situations.
It nowappears that one of
those situations is formobile law
enforcement. According to an
agreement obtained by the
American Civil Union of
Massachusetts, Boston Dynamics
has leased the Spot robots to
police,but did not explain what
the robots were being used for.
Boston radio news service WBUR was told by a
police spokesman that the Spot robots were being
used to support statetroopers when dealing with
suspicious packages, investigating areas where
armed suspects might be hiding out, and carrying
out remoteinspections in dangerous environments.
“Robot technology is avaluable tool forlaw
enforcement because of itsability to provide
situational awareness of potentially dangerous
environments,”apolice spokesman said.
Robot dogs used by Massachusetts police
to sniff out bombs
MICROSOFTHASPATENTEDaset ofcooling
systems that work toconduct heat through a
flexible vapour chamber across the hinge used
in ‘foldable’devices such as dual-screen
smartphones and laptops.
The company entered the so-called foldables
market in October when it unveiled the dual-screen
Surface Neo and Surface Duo.It’s nowseeking to
improve the performance and build of future
iterations through next-gen cooling technology.
Microsoftisplanning to transfer the heat
between regions of dual-screened devices through a
vapour chamber,which runs across the full span,
feeding intoaflexible hinge that can withstand
repeated bending cycles, according to the filing.
“One disclosed example provides an electronic
device comprising afirst portion and asecond
portion connected by ahinge region, and a
vapour chamber extending fromthe first portion
to the second portion across the hinge region,”
the patent notes.
In this example,the vapour chamber is coated
with two layers of titanium, joined together to form
the space through which heat can transfer.There will
also be aworking fluid within this space,aswell as a
third layer comprising features that are designed to
conduct the working fluid through capillary action.
There are several other slight modifications of
this technology that can be worked intodevices of
the future,with Microsoftnowkeen to enhance its
portfolio with the recent additions of the Neo and
Duo devices. There are also patented variations that
can be used in devices such as the HoloLens, with
the firm’s quirkyaugmented reality headset almost
certain to get afuture revamp given the embryonic
nature of the technology.
Microsoft patent hints at vapour chamber
cooling in its future gadgets
IFYOU’VEEVERwondered what it would look
like if acar maker of todaytried to design a
spaceship fortheStar Warsuniverse,thenwonder
no more,asPorsche has teamed up with LucasFilm
to createsuch acraft.
Dubbed the Tri-Wing S-91x
Pegasus Starfighter,the
fighter-grade spacecrafthas the
rugged and practical aesthetic
synonymous with the craftand
technology foundinStar Wars.
This is in stark contrast to
Porsche’s normal concept
designs that are more akin tomachines one would
expect to find in an idealised future,with clean,
smooth lines.
The Tri-Wing S-91x Pegasus Starfighter has afew
nods to Porsche cars, with its lights resembling those
of the car maker’s Ta ycan electric
car,and light strips at the rear of
the ship similar to the brake light
strip in the new992 911 sports car.
The Tri-Wing S-91x Pegasus
Starfighter made its first appearance
at the premiere ofStar Wars: The
Rise of Skywalkerin December.
Porsche design for agalaxy far, far away
