Google released Android 4.3 Jelly Bean to Nexus devices about a week ago and finally HTC and Samsung have caught up, today Google has released the new Android 4.3 update for the HTC One GPE and Samsung Galaxy S4 GPE (Google Play Edition).
Many Samsung users are still waiting on a new update to offer either 4.2.2 or 4.3 on their Galaxy S3 or Note 2, but guess the wait will have to carry on. It was a total shock that older devices such as the Galaxy S2 Plus getting its Android 4.2.2 update and the S3 and Note 2 still misses out. The AT&T Samsung Galaxy S3 only got 4.1.2, we just have this feeling the S3 and Note 2 will get Android 4.3 and skip 4.2.2 altogether, but we could be wrong.
Both the Galaxy S3 and Note 2 are great devices, and even though fairly old they still stand up against other phones with great features to boot. Samsung should really consider looking after the customers they have rather than keep releasing smartphones if they know they cant keep up with software updates, its madness.
Anyway, back to the news at hand. Google has released the new Android 4.3 update for the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 GPE, it seems they will release updates for Google Play Edition devices quicker than any other. Why is GPE devices getting preferential treatment and the likes of the S3 and Note 2 miss out? We will let you answer this one.
Android Police says the new 4.3 update for Google Play Edition HTC One and S4 in about 150MB in size and developed by OEMs, which means no carrier testing or modifications to the UI will get in the way.
There are a few changes with this update, offering custom changes such as support for Bluetooth tethering, larger icons on widget panels, grey background in settings menus which means the Samsung black background has been replaced, users will get to see small changes to the camera and interface.
Thanks to this update with Bluetooth Tethering surely users will be able to use the Samsung Galaxy Google Play Edition with Google Glass. You can get the Android 4.3 update right now OTA by going into Settings ? About phone ? System updates menu on your device.
Have you received the Android 4.3 update on your HTC One or Samsung Galaxy GPE handset yet?
CLEVELAND (AP) ? A man condemned to death for fatally stabbing a neighbor during a Cleveland burglary was found hanged in his cell Sunday just days before his Wednesday execution.
Billy Slagle, 44, was found at about 5 a.m. at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution south of Columbus and was declared dead within the hour, prison spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said.
"He was in his cell alone. No other inmates suspected to be involved," Smith said in an email. "It does appear to be a suicide."
Under regular prison policy, he was scheduled to be placed under pre-execution watch Sunday morning but "was not yet placed under constant watch," Smith said.
Slagle was sentenced to die for the 1987 stabbing of Mari Anne Pope, who was killed while two young children she was watching were in the house.
In a rare move, the prosecutor in Cleveland asked the Ohio Parole Board to spare Slagle. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty said jurors today, with the option of life without parole, would be unlikely to sentence Slagle to death.
The parole board and Gov. John Kasich both rejected mercy for Slagle.
Last week, Slagle's attorney argued that a jury never got the chance to hear the full details of his troubled childhood.
The attorneys, arguing for a new trial and to delay his execution, said that information met requirements for asking for a new trial, which normally must happen within four months of a conviction.
Slagle was "unavoidably prevented" from filing his request because his original attorneys didn't develop and present the evidence, the filing said.
McGinty and Slagle's attorneys had cited his age ? at 18, he was barely old enough for execution in Ohio ? and his history of alcohol and drug addiction.
___
Associated Press writer Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus contributed to this report
Tony Bennett resigned Thursday as Florida education commissioner following two days of controversy over school grades in his home state of Indiana.
He made the announcement at a news conference in Tallahassee late Thursday morning.
?The decision to resign is mine and mine alone, because I believe that when this discussion turns to an adult, we lose the discussion about making life better for children,? Bennett said.
Coming to Florida from the Hoosier state last January, Bennett had faced mounting calls for his resignation in the wake of revelations, first reported by The Associated Press, that he interceded on behalf of an Indiana charter school run by a prominent Republican Party donor. On Thursday, he called those reports ?malicious and unfounded.?
His resignation would be a major setback for Gov. Rick Scott and state education leaders, who are working to overhaul Florida?s system of school accountability and assessment in compliance with the national Common Core standards.
?I?m saddened by Commissioner Bennett?s departure,? state Board of Education member Sally Bradshaw wrote in an email to the Herald/Times. ?This is a loss for Florida?s students.?
The Florida Department of Education has had a revolving door of leaders during Scott?s 31 months in office. Including Bennett, there have been three different education commissions and two interim education commissioners.
Bennett, a nationally recognized education reformer, came on board after losing reelection in Indiana.
The Dover 10-year-old baseball team finished third in the state after falling to Galion 10-9 in eight innings in the losers? bracket final at Hamilton on Friday night.
Both of Dover?s losses in the tournament came in extra innings.
Reese Klar had four singles and Brennan McCune smacked a home run and two singles. Ayden Hall added a double and single and Nathan Ravine had a double for Dover.
Galion plays West Side Hamilton tonight for the state title.
On Thursday, Dover outlasted Canfield 14-12 to reach the losers? bracket final.
Ravine had four singles to lead Dover. McCune smacked a home run and triple.
Reese Klar added three singles and Hall, Evan Klar and Will McCrate had two singles each. Carter Stamets had a double.
Hall was the winning pitcher and Ravine recorded the save. ?
Cobalt replacements make solar cells more sustainablePublic release date: 2-Aug-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Reto Caluori reto.caluori@unibas.ch 41-612-672-495 University of Basel
Researchers at the University of Basel have successfully replaced the rare element iodine in copper-based dye-sensitized solar cells by the more abundant element cobalt, taking a step forward in the development of environmentally friendly energy production. The journal Chemical Communications has published the results of these so-called Cu-Co cells.
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) transform light to electricity. They consist of a semiconductor on which a dye is anchored. This colored complex absorbs light and through an electron transfer process produces electrical current. Electrolytes act as electron transport agents inside the DSCs.
Usually, iodine and iodide serve as an electrolyte. Chemists at the University of Basel have now been able to successfully replace the usual iodine-based electron transport system in copper-based DSCs by a cobalt compound. Tests showed no loss in performance.
The replacement of iodine significantly increases the sustainability of solar cells: Iodine is a rare element, only present at a level of 450 parts per billion in the Earth, whereas cobalt is 50 times more abundant, explains the Project Officer Dr. Biljana Bozic-Weber. Furthermore, this replacement also removes one of the long-term degradation processes in which copper compounds react with the electrolyte to form copper iodide and thus improves the long-term stability of DSCs.
The research group around the Basel chemistry professors Ed Constable and Catherine Housecroft is currently working on optimizing the performance of DSCs based on copper complexes. They had previously shown in 2012 that the very rare element ruthenium in solar cells could be replaced by copper derivatives.
This is the first report of DSCs, which combine copper-based dyes and cobalt electrolytes and thus represents a critical step towards the development of stable iodide-free copper solar cells. However, many aspects relating to the efficiency need to be addressed before commercialization can begin in anything other than niche markets.
Molecular Systems Engineering
In changing any one component of these solar cells, it is necessary to optimize all other parts as a consequence, says Ed Constable. This is part of a new approach termed Molecular Systems Engineering in which all molecular and material components of a system can be integrated and optimized to approach new levels of sophistication in nanoscale machinery. In this publication, the engineering of the electrolyte, the dye and the semiconductor are all described.
This systems chemistry approach is particularly appropriate for the engineering of inorganic-biological hybrids and is the basis of ongoing collaborations with the ETH Department of Biosystems Engineering in Basel (D-BSSE) and EMPA. A joint proposal by the University of Basel and D-BSSE for a new National Centre of Competence in Research in this area is currently in the final stages of appraisal.
###
Original Citation
Biljana Bozic-Weber, Edwin C. Constable, Sebastian O. Frer, Catherine E. Housecroft, Lukas J. Troxler and Jennifer A. Zampese
Copper(I) dye-sensitized solar cells with [Co(bpy)3]2 /3 electrolyte
Chem. Commun., 2013,49, 7222-7224 | doi: 10.1039/C3CC44595J
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Cobalt replacements make solar cells more sustainablePublic release date: 2-Aug-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Reto Caluori reto.caluori@unibas.ch 41-612-672-495 University of Basel
Researchers at the University of Basel have successfully replaced the rare element iodine in copper-based dye-sensitized solar cells by the more abundant element cobalt, taking a step forward in the development of environmentally friendly energy production. The journal Chemical Communications has published the results of these so-called Cu-Co cells.
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) transform light to electricity. They consist of a semiconductor on which a dye is anchored. This colored complex absorbs light and through an electron transfer process produces electrical current. Electrolytes act as electron transport agents inside the DSCs.
Usually, iodine and iodide serve as an electrolyte. Chemists at the University of Basel have now been able to successfully replace the usual iodine-based electron transport system in copper-based DSCs by a cobalt compound. Tests showed no loss in performance.
The replacement of iodine significantly increases the sustainability of solar cells: Iodine is a rare element, only present at a level of 450 parts per billion in the Earth, whereas cobalt is 50 times more abundant, explains the Project Officer Dr. Biljana Bozic-Weber. Furthermore, this replacement also removes one of the long-term degradation processes in which copper compounds react with the electrolyte to form copper iodide and thus improves the long-term stability of DSCs.
The research group around the Basel chemistry professors Ed Constable and Catherine Housecroft is currently working on optimizing the performance of DSCs based on copper complexes. They had previously shown in 2012 that the very rare element ruthenium in solar cells could be replaced by copper derivatives.
This is the first report of DSCs, which combine copper-based dyes and cobalt electrolytes and thus represents a critical step towards the development of stable iodide-free copper solar cells. However, many aspects relating to the efficiency need to be addressed before commercialization can begin in anything other than niche markets.
Molecular Systems Engineering
In changing any one component of these solar cells, it is necessary to optimize all other parts as a consequence, says Ed Constable. This is part of a new approach termed Molecular Systems Engineering in which all molecular and material components of a system can be integrated and optimized to approach new levels of sophistication in nanoscale machinery. In this publication, the engineering of the electrolyte, the dye and the semiconductor are all described.
This systems chemistry approach is particularly appropriate for the engineering of inorganic-biological hybrids and is the basis of ongoing collaborations with the ETH Department of Biosystems Engineering in Basel (D-BSSE) and EMPA. A joint proposal by the University of Basel and D-BSSE for a new National Centre of Competence in Research in this area is currently in the final stages of appraisal.
###
Original Citation
Biljana Bozic-Weber, Edwin C. Constable, Sebastian O. Frer, Catherine E. Housecroft, Lukas J. Troxler and Jennifer A. Zampese
Copper(I) dye-sensitized solar cells with [Co(bpy)3]2 /3 electrolyte
Chem. Commun., 2013,49, 7222-7224 | doi: 10.1039/C3CC44595J
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
China and India are finalising the schedule for a third joint counter-terrorism exercise between their armies announced during?India?s Defence Minister A K Antony?s visit to China last month.
A delegation of the Chinese Army is scheduled to visit India in the last week of August to hold a planning conference in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata.
The two-week long Hand-in-Hand exercise between China and India will be held in October in the?Chengdu region of China, according to Indian news agency PTI.
The first two exercises were held in 2007 and 2008.
f all the iPad mini's drawbacks, the 8-inch tablet's relatively steep price-point ($329) and glaring lack of a high-definition screen were far and away the biggest arguments against buying one. So it isn't entirely unexpected that Apple, according to a new report in the Wall Street Journal, is preparing an HD version, with an eye toward a fall release just before the holidays:
Apple is working with suppliers in Asia on its next iPad mini with a high-resolution "retina" display, unlike the current iPad mini that comes with a lower-resolution screen, the people said. The size of the new tablet will likely be the same as the current 7.9-inch model, which was released in November last year. Apple has also been contemplating multiple color back covers for the new tablet, they said. [Wall Street Journal]
Now, the report does note that Apple "routinely tests various designs and has been known to make changes late in the design process," so a high-definition iPad mini may not actually hit the market. And one of the juicier nuggets from the report is that at least a few of the high-def screens will be supplied by one of Apple's most formidable rivals: Samsung. (The other suppliers are said to be LG and Sharp.)
However, it's worth pointing out that the new version of Google's awesome Nexus 7 tablet was released just last week with an HD screen. Not only is it $100 cheaper than the iPad mini, but it's deservedly racking up rave reviews.
Mind you, bumping the iPad mini up to HD could come with tradeoffs. As TIME's Jared Newman notes, "It takes more power to handle all those pixels." A Retina-equipped mini will need a much better processor (A5X?) crammed into the tablet's smaller body, meaning reduced battery life. Or you could give its chassis an icky size-bump to squeeze in a larger power source.
And while an HD screen sounds like the most obvious upgrade the iPad mini could receive at this point, 9to5 Mac points to an iOS 7 SDK file that seems to allude to an iPad mini with a faster A6 processor, but no Retina. Obviously, that would be a much harder feature to sell to consumers, especially in light of the Nexus 7's turbo-charged upgrades.
New technology coming to OS X Mavericks promises to make it easier for indie gamers to support the platform with 2D arcade-style games. What's more, it's portable between Mavericks and iOS 7. Sprite Kit promises to reinvent the way 2D games are made for the Mac.
Sure, 3D games are cool, but there's been a strong push over the past few years to produce killer games with "old school" appeal - games that reference the 2D platformers, puzzlers and action games of old. After all, many gamers these days grew up in the shadow of Nintendo consoles - heck, some of us old farts even had Ataris, back in the day - and feel really comfortable playing those types of games.
Apple is answering the call by rolling its own frameworks for 2D game development, which it calls Sprite Kit. "Sprites" in 2D game development parlance are the animated characters you see in a computer game - the character you control, the bad guys, the bullets and missiles, and all the other elements of a scene in a game that's overlaid on top of the background.
But Sprite Kit controls a lot more than just characters in games. It's a complete engine for managing things like in-game physics. It also provides a particle system that helps developers produce more realistic effects like fire, smoke and explosions. That can save developers a lot of time from having to learn how to do these things using low-level technology like OpenGL, the graphics open standard that OS X supports.
Here's what Apple says on its public web page for Mavericks developers:
Create high-performing 2D games with the powerful new Sprite Kit framework, which allows you to control sprite attributes such as position, size, rotation, gravity, and mass. Sprite Kit?s OpenGL-based renderer efficiently animates 2D scenes.
Why Sprite Kit is a good idea
There are plenty of "middleware" offerings from software development companies who make money by licensing their technology to game developers who want to develop titles, but don't want to "roll their own" low level technology to handle things line in-game physics and animation. Some of those licenses are available at low cost, too, or in some cases, free, depending on how many copies of the game are sold.
But that technology is, by and large, not custom-designed specifically for OS X and iOS. Sprite Kit's different is that it's home-grown by Apple, so developers can expect better integration with Apple's Xcode development environment and better support at the core operating system level.
That's a net win for developers who begin to use the new technology, since maintaining compatibility with new operating system releases and changes to core Apple technology can be a real pain.
Sprite Kit won't have all the same features as more mature and robust game development engines will, at least not right off the bat. But it'll be enough for game developers to produce some compelling titles right away, and just like other core OS technology and development frameworks, Apple's certain to improve it over time.
Bridging the gap between iOS and OS X
In so many ways, Apple is trying to sensibly erase the line between using an iOS device and using a Mac - we see this in Mavericks technologies like iCloud Keychain, which just work regardless of which device you're using.
Sprite Kit exists very much in that realm - it's a technology that will be supported both by iOS 7 and Mavericks, to make it easier for developers to move in between those worlds, creating games that can run on any Apple-branded device, instead of limiting themselves to a single market.
Are you a Mavericks developer? Are you going to use Sprite Kit to create your games? Or do you prefer to use a third-party game engine technology? Let me know.
Arnold Schwarzenegger arrives for the European Premiere of The Last Stand at a central London cinema in Leicester Square, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013. (Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP)
Former California governor and bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger is launching a new line of nutritional supplements in September. His Arnold Series supplements will focus on four areas: performance, power and strength, nutrient support and recovery.
"I?ve been on a crusade to promote fitness for more than four decades," Schwarzenegger said. "That has led to the largest health and fitness convention in the world, six books, seminars all over the globe and visits to all 50 states as chairman of the President?s Council on Physical Fitness."
He?s partnering with Denver-based MusclePharmCorp. Schwarzenegger said that after meeting with the MusclePharm team, learning about the company, and spending time with the founders, he knew they would be the perfect partners.
The series will be available domestically and internationally at health and nutrition stores as well as online retailers in September.
Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
SUNNYVALE -- Metaphorically speaking, the size of the workforce about to occupy Twitter's first-ever Silicon Valley outpost in Sunnyvale is quite a few characters shy of a full tweet.
The 8,000-square-foot office, which was first reported in May, can accommodate 40 or 50 employees, a drop in the bucket for a company that employed more than 900 as of 2012. Now some of those staffers may soon be on the premises.
"I can confirm that we have begun to hire for our Sunnyvale office,'' Twitter spokeswoman Christina Thiry said Tuesday, declining to offer any more details. The San Francisco micro-blogging site agreed in May to lease the space at Sunnyvale Business
(FILES) The Twitter logo is displayed at the entrance of Twitter headquarters in San Francisco in this March 11, 2011 file photo. KIMIHIRO HOSHINO/AFP/Getty Images (KIMIHIRO HOSHINO)
Park at 400 W. California Ave. near the Caltrain station in downtown Sunnyvale, according to brokers with Colliers International and Jones Lang LaSalle, the commercial realty firms that arranged the lease.
"This is a big deal for this area, a tech company from San Francisco opening an office in Silicon Valley," Kevin Moul, a broker with Colliers, told this newspaper at the time. "It's good to see some movement from San Francisco to Silicon Valley."
Sunnyvale's economic development manager Connie Verceles did not immediately return a phone call Tuesday for comment..
Twitter's albeit humble foray into the South Bay not only helps boost tech hiring in an already red-hot area of job growth, but it's also one more factor to weigh in the emerging debate between San Francisco and San Jose over what Silicon Valley really means anymore.
As of Tuesday afternoon, a single job posting appeared under listings for the Sunnyvale office on Twitter's website. It said Twitter was in the market for a "Software Engineer, Core Runtime Diagnostics," adding that the perfect candidate should be "obsessed with root causing complex systems issues and helping others do the same.''
Included in the list of job requirements, the ad
said applicants must be "proficient with one or more: gdb, perf, oprofile, wireshark" and other developer tools for Linux, a computer operating system.
But that's not all. Along with seeking someone with Linux experience, Twitter said it wanted this from its prospective employees:
"You are awesome, passionate, and nice."
Staff writer George Avalos contributed to this story. Contact Patrick May at 408-920-5689; follow him at Twitter.com/patmaymerc.
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Public release date: 2-Aug-2013
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China and India are finalising the schedule for a third joint counter-terrorism exercise between their armies announced during?India?s Defence Minister A K Antony?s visit to China last month. 
