3D-printed hand tested on young amputee

3D-printed hand tested on young amputee

Xiaocheng, 6, whose left hand was partially amputated after a car accident when he was 4, grabs a box of yoghurt with a 3D-printed prosthetic hand, at a hospital in Wuhan, China on Friday, May 29. The prosthetic hand, which took seven hours to make, was given by the hospital to Xiaocheng for free. After a few tests, he was able to grab light objects with the new device. Reuters More from: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/photo/132758/3d-printed-hand-tested-on-young-amputee

Rare Apple I computer worth $200,000 donated to recycling center

Rare Apple I computer worth $200,000 donated to recycling center 

An example of an Apple I computer on display at the US' Smithsonian Institution. Ed Uthman

A $100,000 check is waiting for a mystery woman who donated a rare Apple 1 computer to a Silicon Valley recycling firm.

CleanBayArea in Milpitas, California, is trying to track down a woman in her 60s who dropped off some electronic goods in April, when she was cleaning out the garage after her husband died.

50-50 split

In one of the boxes, buried under worthless keyboards, personal computer pieces and wires, was a 1976 Apple 1, a groundbreaking home computer. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak designed and hand-built the computers and sold them for $666.66 each. Only a few dozen are known still to exist.

The recycling firm sold the Apple for $200,000 in a private auction. Its policy is to split the proceeds 50-50 with the person who donated the equipment.

Made of wood

"The body was made out of wood. I've never seen anything like that. My first reaction was it was a fake. Then we started looking at it," said Victor Gichun, vice president of marketing for CleanBayArea.

Gichun declined to say who bought the Apple 1, only that it was a private collector. He's not sure whether the Apple is still operational.

Mystery woman

He said he will recognize the woman, who he believes is local, when he sees her and will write her out a check for $100,000.

The boxes sat in the company's warehouse on a pallet for a couple of weeks because they didn't expect to find anything valuable, Gichun said.

(Reporting by Fiona Ortiz in Chicago; Editing by Rosalind Russell and Digby Lidstone) — Reuters


More from: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/496306/scitech/technology/rare-apple-i-computer-worth-200-000-donated-to-recycling-center

Blackberry phones have already gone head to head with Apple Iphones, but now Research In Motion (RIM) has announced on Friday that the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet — its contender to the popular Apple Ipad — will finally be available in the Philippines starting the 6th August 2011.

The BlackBerry’s first tablet computer will come in three Wi-Fi models, featuring 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB of memory storage, and will be available nation-wide from authorized retail stores and mobile operators with a 12-month warranty. Sorry, folks, no 3-G support; but that’s what Blackberry cell phones are there for.

“The BlackBerry PlayBook is an incredibly powerful and feature-rich tablet that is ideal for both business and personal use," said Gregory Wade, Regional Managing Director at Research In Motion, in a press release posted on the RIM website.

“You really need to hold the BlackBerry PlayBook in your hand to fully appreciate how much it stands out in terms of power and portability, and so we encourage customers to visit a retail store and try it out for themselves," added Wade.

The PlayBook weighs less than a half a kilogram (425g) and is less than half an inch thick, sporting a 7-inch WSVGA capacitive LCD touch screen (1024 x 600). It supports Bluetooth 2.1, Adobe Flash, true multitasking, high definition (HD) multimedia, advanced security features, and out-of-the-box enterprise support.

BlackBerry PlayBook specifications include a 1 GHz dual-core processor; dual HD cameras for video conferencing and video capture (3MP front and 5MP rear); 1 GB RAM memory; GPS, Orientation Sensor (Accelerometer), 6-Axis Motion Sensor (Gyroscope), Digital Compass (Magnetometer); stereo speakers and stereo microphones.

Prices are P23,990 for 16GB PlayBook, P28,990 for the 32GB version, and P33,990 for the 64GB version. — TJD, GMA News

Apple introduces MacBook Air—the world’s thinnest notebook

Apple today introduced the world’s thinnest notebook: MacBook Air. It measures an unprecedented 0.16 inches at its thinnest point while its maximum height of 0.76 inches is less than the thinnest point on competing notebooks. In addition to a stunning 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, MacBook Air offers a full-size and backlit keyboard, a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing, and a spacious trackpad with multi-touch gesture support, letting users pinch, rotate and swipe. The new notebook is powered by a 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache, and it includes as standard features 2GB of memory, an 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive, and the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi technology and Bluetooth 2.1. Starting at just $1,799, MacBook Air begins shipping in two weeks. [Jan 15, 2008]