Internet Armageddon my mistake: Google chief

Google's chief internet evangelist, Vint Cerf, has said that the world is going to run out of internet addresses ''within weeks'' and it will be all his fault.

The ''father of the Internet'', who created the web protocol, IPv4, that connects computers globally, said he had no idea that his "experiment" in 1977 "wouldn't end," a newspaper reported.

"I thought it was an experiment and I thought that 4.3 billion [addresses] would be enough to do an experiment," he said in a group interview with journalists.

The protocol underpinning the net, known as IPv4, provides only about 4 billion IP addresses-not website domain names, but the unique sequence of numbers assigned to each computer, website or other internet-connected device.

The explosion in the number of people, devices and web services on the Internet means there are only a few million left.

The allocation of those addresses is set to run out very shortly but the industry is moving towards a new version, called IPv6, which will offer trillions of addresses for every person on the planet.

"Who the hell knew how much address space we needed? "It doesn't mean the network stops, it just means you can't build it very well," he added.

Disclaimer: All information on this news has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you would like to advertise on our site please contact us

New device could revolutionize computer memory

Scientists have developed a new device that represents a significant advance for computer memory, making large-scale “server farms” more energy efficient and allowing computers to start more quickly.

Traditionally, there are two types of computer memory devices. Slow memory devices are used in persistent data storage technologies such as flash drives. They allow us to save information for extended periods of time, and are therefore called nonvolatile devices.

Fast memory devices allow our computers to operate quickly, but aren’t able to save data when the computers are turned off. The necessity for a constant source of power makes them volatile devices.

But now a research team from North Carolina State University has developed a single “unified” device that can perform both volatile and nonvolatile memory operation and may be used in the main memory.

“We’ve invented a new device that may revolutionize computer memory,” said Paul Franzon, co-author of the paper describing the research.

“Our device is called a double floating-gate field effect transistor (FET). Existing nonvolatile memory used in data storage devices utilizes a single floating gate, which stores charge in the floating gate to signify a 1 or 0 in the device – or one ‘bit’ of information.

“By using two floating gates, the device can store a bit in a nonvolatile mode, and/or it can store a bit in a fast, volatile mode – like the normal main memory on your computer.”

The study will be published Feb. 10 in IEEE’s Computer.

Disclaimer: All information on this news has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you would like to advertise on our site please contact us

Facebook raises $1.5 billion from investors

Facebook has raised $1.5 bn from investors, under terms which the world's No. 1 online social network says gives it a value of about $50 bn.

The company, founded in 2004, said it would begin to file public financial reports no later than April 30, 2012, which many see as a precursor to an initial public offering . It could be one of the largest IPOs ever in the technology sector .

The new funding was handled by investment bank Goldman Sachs, which raised $1 billion from non-U.S. investors in a fund that Facebook said was oversubscribed.

In December, Russian investment firm Digital Sky Technologies, Goldman Sachs and some funds managed by Goldman invested $500 million in Facebook.

Disclaimer: All information on this news has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you would like to advertise on our site please contact us

Japan firm makes eco-friendly electronic rickshaw

Everything old is new again for one Japanese manufacturer, which has unveiled an electronic version of a rickshaw.

The "Meguru" is a three-wheeled, three-seat compact vehicle whose single lithium-ion battery allows for a maximum speed and range of 40 kilometers (25 miles) per hour, although the number of batteries could be increased for a longer ride.

"This is a true environmentally friendly car," said Nobuyuki Ogura, the chief executive officer of Yodogawa Group, which built the vehicle in cooperation with three other small companies in western Japan.

"Instead of an air-conditioner, it comes with a pinwheel, and we are also thinking of adding a wind chime because it gives a refreshing sound to cool you down without the need of electricity," he told Reuters Television.

"It doesn't have a heater, but it's equipped with blankets to keep you warm in the winter."

A regular driver's license is required to take the vehicle on the road, but car registration is unnecessary.

Devised as part of a project to revitalize small businesses facing economic hardship, the vehicle -- which is 2.5 meters (8 ft 2 in) long, 1.2 meters (3 ft 11 in) wide and 1.6 meters (5 ft 3 in) tall -- also showcases traditional Japanese crafts.

Chief Seeks More Agile Google

Larry Page's PageRank algorithm was the basis for Google Inc.'s search engine. As Google's new chief executive, Mr. Page will face the challenge of leading a company that has grown far beyond that algorithm and must compete with agile Web upstarts such as Facebook Inc. and Groupon Inc.

On Friday, a day after being named to replace outgoing CEO Eric Schmidt in April, Mr. Page gave little hint of how he planned to tackle such challenges. The 38-year-old Google co-founder didn't immediately address employees in an all-hands note or meeting, said a person familiar with the matter, though the company has a weekly Friday meeting that Mr. Page was expected to attend.

But several of Mr. Page's former colleagues describe him as having similarities to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, whom Mr. Page has said he admired. Both men are strong willed, sometimes impolite and push engineers hard to execute their ambitious projects.

Some former colleagues said Mr. Page is likely to try to pierce through the sometimes "paralyzing" bureaucracy that product managers and engineers have faced when trying to launch some Google products in recent years.

On Thursday, Messrs. Page and Schmidt said some top-level decision-making had gotten slower and the management change would improve that. Also, the company has said it is trying to allow more projects to operate like start-ups inside of Google in order to speed up innovation.

"Larry's style is going to be different [than Mr. Schmidt's], but he has amazing instincts around developing products and is a tireless champion for improving users' experience," said David Scacco, who joined Google as its first advertising sales executive in 2000 and is now chief revenue officer at MyLikes, a social-media ad company.

Soon, super-fast quantum computers could be a reality

Super-fast quantum computers could soon be a reality, as scientists claim to have generated 10 billion bits of quantum entanglement in silicon for the first time.

The breakthrough in silicon -- the basis of the computer chip -- has important implications for integration with existing technology, according to a team of international scientists.

The team, which comprised scientists from Britain, Japan , Canada and Germany , believe that super-fast quantum computers, based on quantum bits, called qubits, will be able to test many possible solutions to a problem at once.

Traditional computers are based on binary switches, or bits, and can only perform one task at a time.

"Creating ten billion entangled pairs in silicon with high fidelity is an important step forward for us," Dr John Morton of Oxford University was quoted as saying by Daily Mail.

"We now need to deal with the challenge of coupling these pairs together to build a scalable quantum computer in silicon," Dr Morton added.

According to scientists, quantum entanglement involves the notion that particles can be connected in such a way that changing the state of one instantly affects the other, even when they are miles apart.