FileHippo News

The latest software and tech news

Facebook DeepFace is 97% Accurate
When you see someone you know, your brain identifies that person’s face in nanoseconds. It is a relatively simple task for us to accomplish.  For a computer, on the other hand, things are not that simple. Cue the Facebook DeepFace project. The social media firm says it has developed a... Read more
Scientists Create Real Life ‘Doc Ock’ Arms
Dr. Otto Gunther Octavius, also known as Doc Ock, the super villain, may soon become a reality!!!  Maybe in the future, Spider-Man may have many highly intelligent mad scientists attacking him on the street. A dangling robot arm that was created to have the agility of an elephant trunk,... Read more
Apple’s Jony Ive Gives Rare Interview
Apple’s Vice President of Design, Jony Ive, has given a rare interview, offering a small glimpse into the world of Apple and how its products are made. He provides insight into where the inspiration comes from for new products and how his obsession with detail impacts on projects. Once... Read more
Scientists Hack Plants With Nanotubes To Create Super Plants
Scientists have been able to turn an ordinary plant into one that is supercharged by inserting nanomaterials into the energy-producing structures within the plant. The team tripled a plant’s energy-producing potential when they used carbon nanotubes to enhance the photosynthetic ability of chloroplasts. Chloroplasts are the cellular factories that... Read more
European Politicians Vote in Favour Of A Universal Charger
European politicians have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a regulation that will force smartphone manufacturers like Apple to produce just one type of charger for all handsets. This regulation will see a one-size-fits-all charger by the year 2017. “This serves the interests both of consumers and the environment,” said... Read more
WiTricity Develop Wireless Electricity
Dr Katie Hall is developing ways to transfer power without wires. As part of a crude experiment, she filled a tiny room with gigantic copper refigerator coils. In the middle of the room was a light bulb. Incredibly it lit up the room despite the fact that there were... Read more
Graphene Based Flash Drives That Look Like Sticky Notes
Designers have come up with a theoretical design that could radicalize the way we store our data. If you’re anything like me, you probably have hundreds of those little thumb drives and can never remember what is stored on which drive. However, in the future we could potentially store... Read more
Microsoft Entices Users To Upgrade To Windows 8.1 With $50 Gift Card
While talk about Microsoft working on a free version of Windows 8.1 is going around – which is good press, definitely – the company is not yet done with its campaign to get loyal Windows XP users to upgrade. (By the way, have you seen the warning popup on... Read more
3D Acoustic Cloak Can Hide Objects From Sound
Underwater invisible super lairs may be just around the corner!  Duke engineers have created the first 3D acoustic cloak.  This device can reroute sound waves which makes it seem as if the cloak, and whatever is beneath it, is not there. All it took to make was a few... Read more
Opera 20.0.1387.77 Removes CSP 1.1 Due To Security Issues
There has been a silent update of Opera 20, which may have gone unnoticed but it sees some interesting security changes. The first change is to what is known as the ‘badge’, or the icon that sits to the left of the address field. Opera 20 was given an... Read more
Get Ultimate Secure Passwords With Winfrasoft PinGrid
Everyone has lots of passwords to remember these days.  The advent of the Internet brought with it all sorts of security problems for its users. Not to worry though, as soon we may have a secure solution to our password problems in the form of Winfrasoft’s PinGrid.  Why is... Read more
The Original Flappy Birds May Be Coming Back Soon
If you keep up with the mobile gaming world, you’re more than likely all too familiar with the craze that was/is Flappy Birds. This insane game, where you tap a button to make a bird’s wings “flap” so it’ll fly in between Mario-looking pipes – was a hit no one... Read more
Snowden Urges A Technical Response Against NSA At SXSW
Speaking at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Edward Snowden has urged the technology community to devise solutions that will protect online communications from snoopers like the NSA. “he people who are in the room at Austin right now, they’re the folks who can really fix things, who... Read more
Microsoft Backs Qi Wireless Charging Standard
Wireless charging is something that will be the standard some time in the future, and I, for one, will be welcoming that time with arms wide open. With several devices in our household, some of which do not use the same cables and/or plugs, it is very easy to... Read more
Astronomers Discover ‘Death Star’
Astronomers have claimed that vast O-type stars are littered across the galaxy destroying young planets before they have had time to form.  A research team from US and Canadian are using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to discover that massive quantities of ultraviolet radiation from stars 16-times the... Read more
Android SDK For Wearable Tech On The Horizon
Google has helped put wearable technology well and truly in the front line.  The impact that Google Glass has had already and it has not even been released yet, is massive.  The company is aiming to march forward and take an active stand in the wearable tech market, because in approximately... Read more
Mophie Case Gives More Battery & Storage For iPhones
Having owned multiple iPhones as well as a Galaxy S3, I am well aware that iPhones are seriously lacking in the upgradeable storage and extra battery department. When I used my Galaxy, I could easily upgrade the onboard storage space with a micro SD card (and I did just... Read more
Scientists Create Shrinking Gel That Repairs Teeth
Following an examination of embryonic development, scientists have made an advancement in tissue engineering. Scientists from the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have been able to develop a new gel-based material, which they say can allow stem cells to repair damaged caused to bones and teeth.... Read more