New Product Innovation Update : Quantum Optical Hard Drive Breakthrough

Scientists developing a prototype quantum hard drive have improved storage time by a factor of more than 100.
 

The team's record storage time of six hours is a major step towards a secure worldwide data encryption network based on quantum information, which could be used for banking transactions and personal emails.

"We believe it will soon be possible to distribute quantum information between any two points on the globe," said lead author Manjin Zhong, from the Research School of Physics and Engineering (RSPE) at The Australian National University (ANU).

"Quantum states are very fragile and normally collapse in milliseconds. Our long storage times have the potential to revolutionize

This image shows quantum information being written on to the nuclear spins of a europium ion.

the transmission of quantum information."Quantum information promises unbreakable encryption because quantum particles such as photons of light can be created in a way that intrinsically links them. Interactions with either of these entangled particles affect the other, no matter how far they are separated.

The team of physicists at ANU and the University of Otago stored quantum information in atoms of the rare earth element europium embedded in a crystal.

Their solid-state technique is a promising alternative to using laser beams in optical fibres, an approach which is currently used to create quantum networks around 100 kilometres long.

"Our storage times are now so long that it means people need to rethink what is the best way to distribute quantum data," Ms Zhong said.

"Even transporting our crystals at pedestrian speeds we have less loss than laser systems for a given distance."

"We can now imagine storing entangled light in separate crystals and then transporting them to different parts of the network thousands of kilometres apart. So, we are thinking of our crystals as portable optical hard drives for quantum entanglement."

After writing a quantum state onto the nuclear spin of the europium using laser light, the team subjected the crystal to a combination of a fixed and oscillating magnetic fields to preserve the fragile quantum information.

"The two fields isolate the europium spins and prevent the quantum information leaking away," said Dr Jevon Longdell of the University of Otago.

The ANU group is also excited about the fundamental tests of quantum mechanics that a quantum optical hard drive will enable.

"We have never before had the possibility to explore quantum entanglement over such long distances," said Associate Professor Matthew Sellars, leader of the research team.

"We should always be looking to test whether our theories match up with reality. Maybe in this new regime our theory of quantum mechanics breaks."

Posted by Unknown Wednesday, February 04, 2015

Review : Lenovo ThinkCentre M92p Tiny

Summary: Unless internal expansion is required, we can find little wrong with the ThinkCentre M92p Tiny as a business-class ultra-small-form-factor PC.

The days of the traditional tower-format PC as a business workhorse may be numbered, but that doesn't mean it's appropriate for every organisation to embrace BYOD, filling their offices with assorted notebooks, ultrabooks and tablets. There remains a need for affordable and manageable desktop PCs that are space- and energy-efficient, and that IT departments can deploy with minimal hassle.

Lenovo's ThinkCentre M92p Tiny takes the small-form-factor PC very seriously, squeezing a perfectly reasonable (albeit minimally expandable) specification into a very small 'one-litre' volume of desk space. The price of our review system (system unit plus keyboard and mouse) was UK£531.05 (ex. VAT); nearest-equivalent prices elsewhere are US$774 and AU$651.89 (both these configurations are for a Core i5 rather than a Core i3 processor, as reviewed here).

The ThinkCentre M92p can be specified with an optional VESA monitor mounting bracket that also accommodates a USB 2.0 optical drive.

Design :
The overall impression of the ThinkCentre M92p's design is functional and unobtrusive. We measured the base unit at 18.2cm by 17.8cm by 3.3cm, which works out at 1.07 litres, so we'll give Lenovo its 'one-litre' claim (that's 7.2in. by 7in. by 1.3in. and 2.27 pints). Our review unit was fitted into a VESA monitor mounting bracket that also accommodates an external USB optical drive, bringing the full dimensions of our review sample to 18.2cm by 18.2cm by 6cm (7.2in. by 7.2in. by 2.36in.). The weight is 1.32kg (2.91lb) for the system unit and 2.07kg (4.56lb) with the VESA bracket and optical drive.

The ThinkCentre M92p (minus the optical drive) mounted on the back of a monitor using the VESA bracket.

When used independently of the VESA mount, the M92p can be lain horizontally or propped up vertically in a custom stand. There's no user access to the internals, so you'll need to make sure you get your initial specification right. 

Features :

Our review M92p unit runs a 2.6GHz Intel Core i3-2120T processor with 4GB of DDR3-1600 RAM. Graphics are handled by the integrated Intel HD Graphics 2000 GPU and the OS is Windows 7 Professional (Windows 8 Pro is now available too). The second-generation Core i3 processor used here doesn't support Intel's vPro remote/out-of-band management technology, but a third-generation Core i5-3470T chip is available that does.

For storage, our review unit had a 320GB SATA II (3Gbps) Western Digital hard drive spinning at a moderate 5,400rpm. Options include alternative hard drive capacities (500GB, 750GB) and a faster 128GB solid-state drive. We also had an optional USB 2.0 optical drive attached to the monitor mount.

The M92p has four USB 3.0 ports — two at the front and two at the back — plus another USB 2.0 port at the back for attaching the optical drive (which adds two more free USB 2.0 ports). For networking there's a Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45) port, with the option (not present on our review unit) for Wi-Fi (single- or dual-band 802.11n) as well. Video connectivity is good, with two DisplayPort connectors and a legacy VGA port on offer. If you buy a couple of the optional splitter cables, you can configure a single large screen using four monitors in what Lenovo calls Mosaic mode (we didn't get to test this, as the cables weren't supplied):

The ThinkCentre M92p driving four monitors in Mosaic mode, courtesy of a pair of DisplayPort splitter cables.

The power supply is a reasonably compact external 65W unit.

Performance & power consumption :

The Windows Experience Index (WEI) for the ThinkCentre M92p is a moderate 4.6 (out of 7.9), the WEI corresponding to the lowest component score. As usual, this is for the integrated graphics — specifically Graphics (Desktop performance for Windows Aero). Memory (RAM) (Memory operations per second) and Primary hard disk (Disk data transfer rate) both scored 5.9, Gaming graphics (3D business and gaming graphics) registered 5.8 and Processor (Calculations per second) led the field with 6.9:

This isn't stellar performance, particularly on the graphics front. However, there are options available for boosting speed if necessary: upgrading the RAM to 8GB or even 16GB; specifying a faster third-generation Core i5 CPU; or fitting an SSD rather than a 5,400rpm hard drive. All of these upgrades will boost the cost, of course.

Running the demanding Cinebench 11.5 CPU and GPU benchmarks shows that the Core i3/HD Graphics 2000/4GB ThinkCentre M92p performs similarly to the Core i3/HD Graphics 2000/4GB ThinkCentre M92z AIO system we reviewed recently:

However, when it comes to disk performance, the ThinkCentre M92p's 320GB SATA II 5,400rpm hard drive lags behind the M92z's 500GB SATA III 7,200rpm drive in the ATTO Disk Benchmark (61.1MB/s write and 67.1MB/s read versus 129MB/s write and 130.3MB/s read respectively):

One of the reasons for specifying a small form factor PC is to minimise power consumption, so it's pleasing to see that the ThinkCentre M92p is frugal in this regard, drawing between 13.6W and 37.6W under various workloads:

ThinkCentre M92p power consumption under different levels of load (PT8 = Passmark Performance Test 8; CB = Cinebench 11.5).

Conclusion :
Unless internal expansion is required, we can find little wrong with Lenovo's ThinkCentre M92p as a business-class small-form-factor PC (and there are bigger models in the range if expansion is required). Our review unit was only a moderate performer, but alternative configurations are available to give it more muscle if required. 

 Power :

Pros :

• Compact 'one-litre' form factor
• Four USB 3.0 ports
• Business-grade manageability
• Monitor-mountable
• Multi-monitor support

Cons :

• No internal expansion
• Lacks Wi-Fi as standard
• Entry-level CPU lacks vPro support

Posted by Unknown Thursday, November 08, 2012

Microsoft Surface -- The Teardown

Summary: Microsoft's Surface tablet has landed, and after undoing 17 Torx fasteners the folks at iFixit had a chance to see just how easy it is to take this tablet apart and what makes this device tick.

Windows Surface product is out and the persons from fix company iFixit have got their arms on one and taken it apart so we can see what creates it tick!

Getting into the Surface includes undoing 17 T5 Torx nails -- ten under the kickstand and a further seven under the photographic camera protect. Also, splitting into the product indicates getting previous a tamper-evident closure, which basically indicates any efforts at maintenance voids your assurance.

Once within the Surface we find that it is operated by a 7.4 V, 31.5 Wh power supply made by New samsung. The potential is between the iPad 2's 25 Wh power supply, and the iPad 3's 42.5 Wh power supply.

On the mainboard is a 1.4GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 processor processor (red box), 32GB of New samsung display storage space (orange box), 2GB of Micron RAM (yellow box), a Marvell wi-fi MIMO processor (blue box), a Wolfson sound codec, and a Cypress touchscreen display operator (black box). 

On the back of the mainboard is a mild indicator (red box) and two microphone (orange box). 

The Surface product is quickly to fix than Apple's iPad, with several elements being flip and exchangeable without demanding desoldering. Battery power is also easy to eliminate once the product is started out.

However, there are disadvantages. The back board is difficult to eliminate, and the laptop key pad plug difficult to get at without eliminating the show. The LCD and cup are merged together, significance both have to be changed, and getting at the LCD or the protecting cup will need a lot of tolerance.

With this in thoughts, iFixit have given the Surface a reparability ranking of 4 out of ten (where ten is simplest to repair). This is better than the 2 obtained by the iPad 3, but nowhere near as good as the 7 obtained by the Kindle Flame HD or the Nexus 7.

"The Surface's style allows you to start it without worry of splitting the show cup, but it's not a simple process," creates iFixit's Primary Details Designer Miroslav Djuric. "And you'll have to dig through the whole product to be able to get to the LCD/glass, which will be the most likely purpose you're damaging the Surface to start with.

Posted by Unknown Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Microsoft Surface: Why Hardware Really Matters Again

Summary: Getting its Surface tablet right is critical for Microsoft, but also reflects how hardware has become important all over again.

Microsoft has barely started to even show off its Surface tablet, but chief executive Steve Ballmer is already talking about plans for more hardware.

"Is it reasonable to say we're going to do more hardware? Obviously we are... Where we see essential possibilities to set a new conventional, really, we'll jump in," Ballmer informed the BBC.

Since when did components get to be awesome again? For decades we've been informed that all the advancement is now in the software; that with the introduction of the reasoning, it doesn't issue which components we use because we'll still be able to get entry to everything we need.

True, components is becoming commoditised when it comes to the business. And yes, browser-based applications are a conventional aspect of our technical globe. And yet, with regards to the smart phone, product or pc, the components we use has become even more essential than ever.

Microsoft has created components before of course — the Microsoft zune, Kin cellular phones and the Console (well, one out of three ain't bad) — so this is not a finish trend. Whether Ms is considering Tablets or even cellular phones continues to be to be seen, but Ballmer's thoughts reveals how the aggressive scenery has modified.

Much of this is a reaction to The apple company, and a smaller level to Amazon and Search engines and the goods and solutions they are developing.

Mobile revolution :

For a while, Ms could be comfortable about the components aspect. That was because whatever the components it was that was out there, it would have to run Microsoft windows.

The errant achievements of Tablets and cellular mobile phones (not to carry up the 'bring your own device' movement) has created that comfortable position look somewhat flat-footed.

The iPad, Amazon kindle Flame and Chromebooks (plus the iPhone and any variety of Android managing program devices) have proven why components still issues. Management the main components used by customers, and you can develop an environment out from there — whether that's promoting songs, guides, movies or applications.

Control the components, and you control the pockets (sometimes basically in the situation of smartphones).

Microsoft fairly much won the os fight, but now the war has shifted on, and the components is now a key battleground again. That's why much relies on the achievements of Area and the components that might adhere to it.
 

Posted by Unknown Friday, October 26, 2012

Apple Announces iMac Speed Bump With Super-Sleek Profile

Summary: At a special event Apple today announced a substantially thinner iMac with an entirely new industrial design in the same 21.5 and 27-inch screen sizes (and four other new pieces of hardware.)

Apple held a "little" media event today at the California theatre in San Jose that turned out to be anything but "little" -- at least as far as hardware is concerned. Apple announced five (count 'em!) new hardware devices, including:

• Mac mini
• iPad with Retina Display (fourth generation)
• iMac
• MacBook Pro 13 with Retina Display
• iPad mini

In this post I want to discuss the new iMac (press release) which was last updated in May 2011.

The new model features:

• Thinner industrial design built from aluminum and glass with up to 40 percent less volume
• Upgraded display with reflection reduced by 75%
• Every iMac display is individually color calibrated using an advanced spectroradiometer
• 2.7 - 3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, or
• 3.4GHz Intel Core i7 processor
• NVIDIA Kepler graphics architecture - up to 60 percent faster performance
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M, or
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX - best graphics available in an all-in-one computer
• 8 - 32GB of 1600 MHz memory
• 1 - 3TB hard drive, or
• Up to 768GB SSD, or
• Fusion Drive with 128GB of flash and a 1TB or 3TB hard drive
• Two Thunderbolt
• Four USB 3.0 ports

The new iMac isn't yet available for ordering, but Apple provided the following base prices:

• 2.7GHz with 8GB and 1TB - starting at $1299 - available in November
• 2.9GHz with 8GB and 1TB - starting at $1799 - available in December

Posted by Unknown Wednesday, October 24, 2012