Creating the way to technological innovation

The Coming Collapse of Moore’s Law

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Email: [email protected] Chief Editor & Publisher Editorial / Advisory Board Syed Saqlain Shah Gilani Dr. Ali Murtaza Senior International Editor Dr. Javid Iqbal Muhammad Farooq Dr. Syed Makhdoom Ali Shah Mr. Qamar Munir Editor Rana Sarfraz Saleem

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5 the Coming Collapse of Moore’s Law (Cover Story) By Syed Saqlain Shah Gilani 11 11 A strong telecoms sector in a connected continent By Neelie Kroes 13 ITU Telecom World 2013 By Muhammad Farooq 22 How the US Got Broadband Right By Lowell C. McAdam 26 10 Excellent Platforms for Building Mobile Apps By Grace Smith 28 David Cameron Opens Sina Weibo Account to Repair China’s ‘Hurt Feelings’ By Lily Kuo 29 Unlocking the Mind with Brain-Computer Interfaces By Jessica Barfield 31 Mobile devices allowed on EU flights 22 By Dave Keating 32 Drake & Scull International explores expansion opportunities within Oman’s aviation sector 32 du now offers the lowest international call rates to Pakistan 33 EIAST Releases first images of DubaiSat-2 34 Genetically Modified Foods: The Consequences of Agricultural Design By Dr. Javid Iqbal 37 new airport terminal puts Shenzhen on the global architecture map By Phyllis Richardson 38 Genetic differences between “identical” twins discovered By Darren Quick 38 Dubai Smart Government conducts feasibility study on Shared Disaster Recovery Site 47 39 Scientists jump the “air gap” with hidden acoustic networks By Nick Lavars 40 Smarty Ring offers connectivity without lifting a finger By Nick Lavars 41 neurocriminology: The Disease behind the Crime By Olivia Dahl 44 top 10 green concept cars of 2013 By: Merritt Losert 47 Who invented Google? By: Tom Harris 48 tobii Lets You Control a Tablet With Your Eyes By: Christina Warren - Pete Pachal

03 www.experttechnologyreview.com Letter to Reader

touched on many of the key topics of the Dear Readers, event. Welcome to the new edition of Expert Although it is generally agreed upon that Technology Review. Moore’s Law will eventually collapse, the Participants from across the exact time of collapse is not certain. In world came together at Bang- 2003, Intel predicted the collapse would kok’s IMPACT venue on 19 be between 2013 and 2018. However, November to take part in the it should be noted that within the last Opening Ceremony to launch 30 years, the predicted collapse of the ITU Telecom World 2013. As the Moore’s law has been pushed back media partner of the event we decade by decade. Some academics see extend our sincerest congratula- the limits of the Moore’s law as being tions to ITU on a successful & farther into the future. Moore’s Law is a fruitful show. hallmark in the field of computer science. The Ceremony took place in the It is because of this law that technologi- presence of the Prime Minister cal and social change has been so rapid of Tonga Lord Tu’ivakano and the in recent decades and will continue at First Lady of Nigeria, Patience a rapid pace in the immediate future. Syed Saqlain Shah Gilani Goodluck Jonathan and featured We identify many physical limitations of Chief Editor a high-level line up including ITU Moore’s law in this issue “The coming Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun collapse of Moore’s Law”. Touré. You shall also find very interesting Highest-level participants took to the articles and reports, namely 10 Excel- stage to outline their views on key lent Platforms for building Mobile Apps subjects such as ICT sector growth, by: Grace Smith, who invented Google change and how they are responding to by: Tom Harris, Neurocriminology: The this change. In his opening address, ITU Disease behind the Crime by: Olivia Dahl, Secretary-General, Dr Hamadoun Touré, Perceiving Time by: Eric Tao, Unlocking outlined some of the different ways in the Mind with Brain-Computer Interfaces which the digital revolution is currently by: Jessica Barfield, EU biofuel reform shaping our lives by changing how we in trouble by: Dave Keating, Producing communicate and behave as consumers Fuel from Mutated Microbes by: Merritt as well as introducing new, influential Losert, Top 10 green concept cars of 2013 players into the ICT industry ecosystem. by C.C. Weiss, Smarty Ring offers con- In this issue of Expert Technology Re- nectivity without lifting a finger by: Nick view you shall find the show highlights, Lavars, Scientists jump the “air gap” with features and daily conference coverage hidden acoustic networks by: Nick Lavars of ITU Telecom World 2013 including the and How the US Got Broadband Right debate, which set the scene for four days by: Verizon Chairman and CEO, Verizon: of discussion, workshops, showfloor Lowell C. McAdam. activities and networking in Bangkok, Happy Reading!

04 www.experttechnologyreview.com The Coming Collapse of Moore’s Law

By Syed Saqlain Shah Gilani

Introduction Law, which is the observation speeds are factored in, the Moore. In a 1965 report in New lines of laptops, that the number of transistors growth rate of net processor Electronics Magazine, Moore smartphones, tablets, and on an integrated circuit doubles performance doubles every noted that the number of other computing gadgets roll approximately every 24 18 months. The rate predicted components in integrated out constantly. Each electronic months. The distance between by Moore’s Law represents circuits doubled every year is marketed as faster, smaller, transistors on an integrated exponential growth—a from 1958 to 1965: and more efficient than its circuit is inversely proportional rate which reflects large “The complexity for minimum predecessor. Consumers flock to the processing speed of a developments in the computing component costs has increased to stores to keep up with computer. Therefore, Moore’s industry and is rivaled by the at a rate of roughly a factor of the “latest and greatest” Law implies that the speed of speed of developments in few two per year… Certainly over technology. Many ask why processors due to transistor other industries. the short term this rate can be the computer industry is to density doubles every 24 Background expected to continue, if not maintain such growth for so months. When improvements Moore’s Law is named after to increase. Over the longer long. The answer lies in Moore’s due to individual transistor Intel co-founder Gordon E. term, the rate of increase is a

05 www.experttechnologyreview.com bit more uncertain, although there is no reason to believe it will not remain nearly constant for at least 10 years. That means by 1975, the number of components per integrated circuit for minimum cost will be 65,000. I believe that such a large circuit can be built on a single wafer”. At the time, Moore predicted that this growth rate could be maintained for at least ten years. Since then, his prediction has held true—transistor density has increased exponentially for the last half century. In fact, the law has become an industry standard and is often used to set long-term research and development targets. Companies that produce transistors use the rate predicted by the law as a memory capacity are all related based on vacuum tubes, a Although Moore referred to benchmark for their progress, to the number of components precursor to the modern transistor-based computers assuming that competitors that can fit onto an integrated transistor. A vacuum tube in his 1965 assessment, first will do the same. In this way, circuit. Improvements to is a device that controls generation computers with Moore’s law is a self-fulfilling these capabilities have also electrical current in a sealed vacuum tubes loosely followed prophecy. increased exponentially since container. Early vacuum tubes the exponential growth rate The specific formulation of their inception. The effects of were roughly the size of light estimated by Moore’s law. As Moore’s Law has also changed Moore’s Law have far-reaching bulbs and first generation first generation computers over time to increase the implications on technological computers built from multiple advanced, vacuum tubes accuracy of the law. Notably, and social development, and vacuum tubes often took became smaller, faster, and in 1975, Moore changed his affect many sectors of the up entire rooms. The size of more energy efficient. projection to a two-fold global economy. the computers also meant By 1956, transistor technology increase in transistor density Past they used a great amount of had replaced vacuum tubes. every two years. David House, The history of computers is electricity and were expensive This development represented a colleague of Moore’s at Intel, closely tied to the increase in to operate. Computers built in the advent of the second later factored in increased computing power. As a result, this era were used primarily for generation of computers. performance of individual the history of computers is low-level operations and could Transistor technology proved transistors to conclude that shaped greatly by Moore’s only solve simple problems to be far superior to the overall performance of Law. As computing power grew one at a time. Input into the vacuum tube. Transistors were circuits would double every 18 exponentially, the capabilities computer was in the form of faster, smaller, cheaper, and months. This is the rate that is and functionality of computing punch cards and paper tape more energy efficient. Early commonly referred to today. devices also increased. This led and output was in the form of vacuum tubes generated Although Moore wrote only of to more capable devices such paper printouts. An example of a lot of heat, and although transistor density in his 1965 as the cellphone or personal a first generation computer is transistors also generated paper, other capabilities of computer. This history of UNIVAC (UNIVersal Automatic heat, it emitted significantly digital electronic devices are computing is often divided into Computer), the first commercial less than the vacuum tube. In strongly connected to Moore’s four generations. computer, which was used addition, unlike vacuum tubes, law. Processing speed, pixel First generation computers, by the U.S. Census Bureau transistors could begin to density, sensor strength, and built from 1940 to 1956, were for early census calculations. work without initially needing

06 07 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com to reach a certain energy improved exponentially, with computers to take input from a 4004 chip developed in 1971 level. This meant that second more transistors fitting into keyboard and produce output was one of the earliest fourth generation computers required smaller spaces. on a monitor. Third generation generation computer chips. little to no start up time. The development of integrated computers were also the first to It fit the central processing Second generation computers circuits is the major factor that use operating systems, which unit, memory, input and still used punch card input and distinguishes third generation allowed devices to manage output controls on a single print output but could perform and second generation many applications at one time chip. The development of more complex operations computers from each other. with a central interface to the microprocessor falls in at faster speeds. Second Third generation computers monitor computer memory. line with predictions made by generation computers were became widespread around The IBM 360, introduced in Moore’s Law, as transistors relied on for heavier operations 1964. Integrated circuits the April of 1964, is commonly became increasingly smaller such as control of the first consisted of a large number of considered to be the first and densely packed. The nuclear reactors. Despite transistors fit onto silicon chips third generation computer. processors of early fourth these advances, most second called semiconductors. These Because of decreased size and generation computers could fit generation computers were still integrated circuits decreased lower production costs, third entirely in the palm of a hand. too complicated and expensive the space between transistors generation computers were Although third generation for domestic use. Although and greatly increased the the first computers to become computers were accessible to modern computers have power and efficiency of available to larger audiences. the general public, it was not applied transistors in new ways, computers. The transistors of As integrated circuits became until the development of early such as integrated circuits third generation computers smaller, more integrated fourth generation computers and microprocessors, the were packed densely enough circuits could fit into computing that computer use by the home transistor technology of second that the size of most third devices. The fourth generation user became widespread. In generation computers is generation computers of computers is based on 1981, IBM introduced its first essentially the same technology is roughly equivalent to the development of the home computer. In 1984, Apple that modern computers use. computers today. In addition, microprocessor, a single introduced the Macintosh. As In accordance with Moore’s increased processing power silicon chip with thousands of fourth generation computers Law, transistor technology has enabled third generation integrated circuits. The Intel developed, microprocessors

06 07 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com continued to decrease in between computers and One such challenge is approximately 10e31 bits. size and increase in speed therefore increase the amount overcoming Rock’s Law, also Although it is generally agreed and efficiency. As they of information computers can known as Moore’s Second upon that Moore’s Law will became more developed, access. In addition to increasing Law. Rock’s Law states that eventually collapse, the exact microprocessors began to be data access, the internet as computers become faster time of collapse is not certain. used for more than just desktop can also be used to increase and more efficient, the cost In 2003, Intel predicted the computers. Laptops, hand- computing power through for producers to fulfill Moore’s collapse would be between held devices, gaming consoles, the use of cloud computing. Law becomes increasingly 2013 and 2018. However, it and other gadgets all began Cloud computing is the sharing more expensive and difficult. should be noted that within to make use of the rapidly of hardware and software Research and development, the last 30 years, the predicted developing technology. Fourth resources over a network, manufacturing, and test costs collapse of the Moore’s law has generation computers saw the which increases the capability increase steadily with each been pushed back decade by development of networks, links of computers in the network new chip generation. The decade. Some academics see between multiple computers over individual computers. capital cost to produce at the limits of the Moore’s law as and processors to perform Today, many prototypes for Moore’s Law also increases being farther into the future. certain common operations. fifth generation computers exponentially over time. Professor Lawrence Krauss and This eventually led to the have been developed. The Although Rock’s Law is not a Glenn D. Starkman predict an development of the internet. most well-known of these direct limitation of Moore’s ultimate limit to the law about Present prototypes is Watson, an Law, it does remove incentive 600 years in the future. Today, computers are artificial computer system for companies to continue Ultimately, the continuation considered to be at their fourth developed by IBM. Watson, as keeping up with Moore’s of Moore’s Law will depend generation. However, since an artificially intelligent system, Law. Another challenge in on the ability of the computer computing power continues is capable of interpreting maintaining Moore’s Law industry to develop new to double every 18 months, questions in natural language is the fact that as transistor technologies to overcome modern computers are and producing a response. density increases, so does short-term limits, including vastly more capable than the Watson’s hardware consists of internal heat of the processor. the susceptibility of silicon to first generation computers “a cluster of ninety IBM Power This can lead to problems heat. Current research around developed in 1971. Intel’s 750 servers…with a total of overheating as well as computing has started to most recent Core i7-3770 of 2880 POWER7 processor excessive energy use. Michio explore the development of a microprocessor, released in cores and 16 Terabytes of Kaku estimates that silicon fifth generation of computers. April of 2012, has 1.4 billion RAM. Each Power 750 server microchips can only withstand Fifth generation computing transistors on a 160 cubic uses 3.5 GHz POWER7 eight the heat of transistors down will be primarily based on the mm die. The processor has 4 core processors”. In 2011, to 5nm apart. In addition, as development of quantum processing cores which each Watson competed on the TV computers get more powerful, processors. A quantum run at 3.4 GHz at standard show Jeopardy against former it becomes more difficult to processor is a processor that power. This is substantially champions and won the first justify increasing power when makes use of the interactions more powerful than the place prize. increased energy consumption between particles on a Intel 4004, the first fourth Future is a direct result. quantum scale. Specifically, generation processor from The future of computer Moore’s Law also faces quantum processing takes Intel, which ran at 740 kHz. development depends on many physical limitations. advantage of the fact that Modern day microprocessors whether the growth rate For example, the speed of photons and atoms can exist in can be found in a range estimated by Moore’s Law light and the quantum size multiple states which can then of devices from Android can be maintained in the limit both limit the maximum be used to store information smartphones to gaming future. In 2005, Gordon Moore possible speed for a processor and perform processes. consoles and household stated that the law “can’t of a certain size. When the Quantum processing increases appliances. continue forever. The nature speed of light, quantum the component density of Networks also play an of exponentials is that you scale, gravitational constant, processors greatly by bringing increasingly important role push them out and eventually and Boltzmann constant are components to a quantum in computing today. As of disaster happens”. The considered, the maximum level. Therefore, quantum 2012, roughly 8.7 billion computer industry will be faced performance of a laptop of processing offers a significant devices were connected to with many challenges if it is to mass one kilogram and volume increase in performance. In the internet. The internet is maintain the growth standard of one liter is 5.4258e50 logical addition, quantum computers used to deliver information set by the Moore’s Law. operations per second on decrease heat output

08 09 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com and energy consumption human brain may be possible. executives that Moore’s Law of defects.” The sensitivities compared to their silicon-based Challenges was dead. Some predictions and minor variations increase, counterparts. As chips get smaller, about the law were short- and a lot of attention to detail As processors continue to maintaining pace with Moore’s sighted, and the paradigm will is required. increase in power, more Law is perhaps more difficult continue to apply as Intel scales “As we make things smaller, advanced capabilities of today than it was in years past, down chip sizes, Holt said. the effort that it takes to computers will be possible. said William Holt, executive “I’m not here to tell you make them actually work is Most notably, computers vice president and general that I know what’s going to increasingly difficult,” Holt said. with artificial intelligence will manager of Intel’s Technology happen 10 years from now. “There are just more steps and likely be developed. Artificial Manufacturing Group, during This is much too complicated a each one of those steps needs intelligence is an emerging a speech at the Jeffries Global space. At least for the next few additional effort to optimize.” technology that enables Technology, Media, and generations we are confident To compensate for the devices to act in a manner that Telecom Conference. we don’t see the end coming,” challenges in scaling, Intel simulates human intelligence. “Are we closer to an end Holt said, talking about has relied on new tools and Artificially intelligent computers than we were five years generations of manufacturing innovations. are able to interpret natural ago? Of course. But are we processes. “What has become the solution language input, learn, and to the point where we can “The fact that now as we look to this is innovation. Not just organize information. IBM realistically predict that end, at the future, the economics simple scaling as it was the first Watson, developed in 2010, we don’t think so. We are of Moore’s Law ... are under 20 years or so, but each time now you go through a new generation, you have to do something or add something to enable that scaling or that improvement to go on,” Holt said. Intel has the most advanced manufacturing technology in the industry today, and was the first to implement many new factories. Intel added strained silicon on the 90-nanometer and 65-nanometer processes, which improved transistor performance, and then added gate-oxide material—also called high-k metal gate—on the 45-nm and 32-nm processes. Intel changed transistor structure into 3D form on the 22-nm process to continue shrinking chips. The latest 22-nm chips have transistors is a current prototype of an confident that we are going considerable stress is probably placed on top of each other, artificial intelligent computer. to continue to provide the appropriate because that is giving it a 3D design, rather Although Watson has some basic building blocks that allow fundamentally what you are than next to each other, which of the capabilities of artificial improvements in electronic delivering. You are delivering a was the case in previous intelligence, its capabilities are devices,” Holt said. cost benefit each generation,” manufacturing technologies. limited by its hardware and The end of the industry’s ability Holt said. Intel in the past has made computing power. However, to scale chips down in size has But Holt said that chips for itself, but in the last as processors become more “been a topic on everybody’s manufacturing smaller chips two years has opened up advanced, truly artificially mind for decades,” Holt said, with more features becomes its manufacturing facilities intelligent devices that can but dismissed arguments a challenge as chips could be to make chips on a limited simulate the power of the by observers and industry more sensitive to a “wider class basis for companies like

08 09 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com Altera, Achronix, Tabula silicon. in time. People that moved to the continuance of Moore’s and Netronome. Last week “Strain is one example that [early] struggled mightily,” Law. Intel appointed former we did in the past, but using Holt said, adding that Intel also Holt could not predict when manufacturing chief Brian germanium instead of silicon made a late move to immersion Intel would move to 450- Krzanich to CEO, sending is certainly a possibility that lithography, which saved millimeter wafers, and hoped a signal that it may try to is being researched. Even the company millions of U.S. it would come by the end of monetize its factories by more exotically, going to III-V dollars. the decade. EUV has proved taking on larger chip-making material provide advantages,” By the time Intel moved to challenging, he said, adding contracts. Apple’s name has Holt said. “And then there are immersion lithography the that there are engineering been floated around as one of new devices that are being transition was smooth, while problems to work through Intel’s possible customers. evaluated as well as different the early adopters struggled. before it is implemented. For Intel, the advances in forms of integration.” The next big move for chip Nevertheless, Holt was manufacturing also correlate to The family of III-V materials manufacturers is to 450-mm confident about Intel’s the company’s market needs. includes gallium arsenide. wafers, which will allow more ability to scale down and to With the PC market weakening, Research is also under way chips to be made in factories remain ahead of rivals like Intel has made the release of at companies like IBM, which at less cost. Intel in July last TSMC and GlobalFoundries, power-efficient Atom chips for is investigating graphene year invested $2.1 billion which are trying to catch tablets and smartphones based processors, carbon in ASML, a tools maker, to up on manufacturing with on the newest manufacturing nanotubes and optical circuitry enable smaller chip circuits the implementation of 3D technologies a priority. Intel in silicon processors. and larger wafers. Following transistors in their 16-nm and is expected to start shipping The U.S. government’s National Intel’s lead, TSMC (Taiwan 14-nm processes, respectively, Atom chips made using the Science Foundation is leading Semiconductor Manufacturing next year. But Intel is advancing 22-nm process later this year, an effort called “Science Co.) and Samsung also invested to the second generation followed up by chips made and Engineering behind in ASML. Some of TSMC’s of 3D transistors and unlike using the 14-nm process next Moore’s Law” and is funding customers include Qualcomm its rivals, also shrinking the year. research on manufacturing, and Nvidia, which design chips transistor, which will give it a Intel this week said upcoming manufacturing advantage. 22-nanometer Atom chips Speaking about Intel’s rivals, based on a new architecture Holt said, “Since they have called Silvermont will be up been fairly honest and open to three times faster and five they are going to pause times more power-efficient area scaling, they won’t be than predecessors made using experiencing cost saving. the older 32-nm process. The We will continue to have a Atom chips include Bay Trail, substantial edge in transistor which will be used in tablets performance.” later this year; Avoton for Conclusion servers; and Merrifield, due Moore’s Law is a hallmark in next year, for smartphones. nanotechnology, multicore based on ARM processors. the field of computer science. Intel is trying to catch up with chips and emerging Intel’s investment in ASML was It is because of this law that ARM, whose processors are technologies like quantum also tied to the development technological and social change used in most smartphones and computing. of tools for implementation has been so rapid in recent tablets today. Sometimes, not making of EUV (extreme ultraviolet) decades and will continue at The process of scaling down immediate changes is a good technology, which enables a rapid pace in the immediate chip sizes will require lots of idea, Holt said, pointing to more transistors to be future. ideas, many of which are taking Intel’s 1999 transition to the crammed on silicon. EUV References shape in university research copper interconnect on the shortens the wavelength range 1. M. Hill, N. Jouppi, G. being funded by chip makers 180-nm process. Intel was a late required to transfer circuit Sohi. Readings in Computer and semiconductor industry mover to copper, which Holt patterns on silicon using masks. Architecture (Morgan Kaufmann associations, Holt said. Some of said was the right decision at That allows creation of finer Publishers, San Francisco, ed. 1, the ideas revolve around new the time. images on wafers, and chips 2000). transistor structures and also “That equipment set wasn’t can carry more transistors. The 2. R. Schaller, Moore’s Law: IEEE materials to replace traditional mature enough at that point technology is seen as critical Spectrum.

10 11 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com A strong telecoms sector in a connected continent Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda addressed Vodafone Group Board meeting /New York City

Neelie Kroes

Now my proposals for the telecoms sector that Telecoms Single Market are on is strong, dynamic and the table. And the world hasn’t innovative. collapsed. Indeed, financial The single market analysts are being positive on helps much of our the impact these proposals economy. It’s time have on your sector, on you it also boosted the and your competitors. communications And at the same time that underpin there have been significant competitiveness. developments, in the European Today it’s too hard for and US markets, involving you to work across Vodafone but also some of the EU’s borders. your competitors. I think this You shouldn’t have is where we need to start: to seek separate what sort of market do we authorisations in have in Europe, where are each country you we heading, and what do we work in; that’s not need to do to make the sector what a single market – and the whole European is about. If you can economy – stronger and more operate anywhere in competitive. Europe, you should I know you share my analysis be able to operate of the present state of everywhere in Europe! the European telecoms Any operator should sector. Revenues are down, be able to serve every investments weak. You see European, without little attraction in Europe, and discrimination. You few opportunities to expand. should have more That troubles me. Not just consistent access because of one sector. to fixed networks But because of everything in different countries, Vice-President of the European Commission that sector can do for us. streamlining wholesale access responsible for the Digital Agenda From smart cities to cloud to enable consistent, quality computing, eHealth to services that cross borders. For well behind in the 4G roll-out will give BEREC, the body of eGovernment, these are wireless, spectrum rules and race, and we can’t afford to national regulators, a full- networks that could transform assignment timing need to be stay there. Governments can’t time, professional chair, for lives, strengthen society, and more coordinated; and better carry on treating spectrum like more strategic and coherent boost competitiveness. used, through innovations like a cash cow: pricing needs to planning. But we will also But that all depends on spectrum sharing and new reflect the wider benefit. retain the right, as a last resort, connectivity. And on a rules on public WiFi. Europe is On the institutional side, we to veto national remedies if

10 11 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com they are not in line with the avoid arbitrage – and deals Partnership on strategic maintaining scarcity. By unfair objective of an open single that can come onto the market research for 5G, for which charges and blocking services. market. as soon as possible to as I hope the Commission will Frustrating the economy’s And more transparent many customers as possible. commit several hundreds of need for connectivity. internet contracts will ensure That’s what I am enabling and millions of euros. Ultimately that can only lead to operators compete fairly, on encouraging. I hope that this partnership stagnation and decline. the basis of the actual quality In finalising these proposals gathers all the experts: This vision can only be met of your product. A 30 Megabit I have tried to listen to including from the “user side”. by a telecoms sector that is connection should mean 30 industry’s needs. Not just So I hope Vodafone can be fully healthy, vigorous, and dynamic. Megabits. It shouldn’t just be to the complaints made in engaged. With strong European players a race to who can exaggerate public; but to those in your And of course we are also that can think big, to compete the most. sector who recognise roaming taking action to ensue secure globally, the backbone for Plus new safeguards would was ultimately an artificial and resilient networks. The growth across the economy. ensure access to the open and unsustainable crutch. recent incident at Vodafone A sector that doesn’t face internet. Allowing innovative And I want to accommodate in Germany reminds us of the barriers, but has the ability new “specialised services” forward-looking tariff plans business case for cybersecurity: and incentives to invest and (like for IPTV, e-Health, or — that treat roaming as an it knocked a billion off your innovate. cloud computing) – but with intrinsic part of the consumer’s share price within hours. Taking Rather it is by ensuring guarantees that regular package in a single European precautions pays for itself – plentiful supply. Capturing Internet access won’t be market. and all key players need to play tomorrow’s opportunities. And impaired. I want to see The financial sector had already their part. offering new services people openness and innovation, discounted roaming revenues That is what we are doing for want to buy. online: but also rules that are in their analysis of your sector a connected continent. It’s not And that is what my proposals clear and consistent across the a good while ago. Now they just legislation: it’s part of a are all about. This is about EU. have confirmed that the overall whole vision for the sector. making the pie bigger. So let’s And we will ensure fairer prices package would have a positive Connectivity is becoming not fight over crumbs. for consumers. It’s hard to impact on the predictability of part of our lifestyle. With I know you get this. I know claim you’re bringing down earnings, and the prospects for ever more uses serving ever you are investing to upgrade single market barriers as long investment. Which is exactly more needs. I’d compare it networks, to offer better as roaming charges remain; what we are aiming for. to transport : where a range quality products. or indeed the artificially high That is the proposed of needs is met by a range That’s not because I told you prices for intra-EU calls. In Regulation on a Telecoms of solutions. From buses to to: it’s because you recognise other countries, like the US, Single Market I’ve put forward planes, from Volkswagens to the competitive advantage. we’ve seen companies taking to Council and Parliament. Land Rovers. And exactly the But I do want to see more of a leadership role here. Phasing Alongside those, we have a same goes for connectivity. that. And by bringing down out roaming charges and new framework for investment Different consumer needs can barriers and helping you plan showing that their aim is not in fast fixed broadband. Giving and should be met by a sector and invest, we are making that to frustrate their consumers, you and other investors the prepared to innovate. That is easier, and more rewarding. but satisfy them. No company stability and certainty to plan a huge opportunity. To mourn This is an industry that’s can seem like it is against their for the long term. the loss of roaming charges transforming rapidly. You know own customers: that’s no kind Separately from those would be totally missing the that well. And I’m determined of business model. The first measures – we are also point. Give people what they to ensure it moves in the European player to recognise researching the next want and they are prepared to right direction. To deliver this will be in for a big reward. generation of mobile networks: pay accordingly. that European leadership My preference on roaming 5G. When I spoke to the Mobile This won’t be achieved by a and dynamism that we so is for market solutions, not World Congress in February, sector that looks backwards desperately need to recapture. endless interventions in retail I called to move faster in this – at old services, at dated I hope these proposals will prices. Deals that let people area. I am delighted with the business models, at declining become a reality by next roam across the EU as though rapid and positive response revenue streams. The telco Easter. And that would be a big they were still at home – with from industry. Now we are sector cannot support itself or move towards a connected, a reasonable limit on use to ready to agree a Public Private the economy by deliberately digital Europe.

12 13 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com ITU Telecom World 2013

Post Show Report by: Muhammad Farooq

From traditional dancing Ooredoo Sheikh Abdullah of the different ways in which technological innovation has the to digital Bangkok today: Bin Mohammed Al-Thani, the the digital revolution is currently potential to change the world ITU Telecom World 2013 Minister for Information and shaping our lives by changing for good – and for the better.” glittering Opening Ceremony Communication Technology of how we communicate and Speaking at the Opening sets stage for week’s Thailand, Group Captain Anudith behave as consumers as well Ceremony, China Mobile discussions. Nakornthap, Chairman of the as introducing new, influential President and CEO Mr Yue Li Participants from across National Broadcasting and players into the ICT industry marvelled at the impressive the world came together at Telecommunication Commission ecosystem. growth of the global ICT Bangkok’s IMPACT venue on 19 of Thailand (NBTC), Air Chief New technologies have brought market and the opportunities November to take part in the Marshal Thares Punsri, and us network virtualization, big this presents and said, “By Opening Ceremony to launch President of the Thailand data, machine-to-machine 2016 the global ICT market will ITU Telecom World 2013. Convention and Exhibition communication, the Internet exceed USD 5 000 billion, and The Ceremony took place in the Bureau (TCEB) Mr Nopparat of Things, and smart solutions for the Chinese market it will presence of the Prime Minister Maythaveekulchai. – some of the key areas likely be more than USD 631 billion, of Tonga Lord Tu’ivakano Highest-level participants took to be headlining the debate creating a whole brand new and the First Lady of Nigeria, to the stage to outline their agenda. opportunity for the telecom Patience Goodluck Jonathan views on key subjects such as Technological innovation has industry.” Outlining his vision for and featured a high-level line ICT sector growth, change and tremendous potential to change making this a reality, he added, up including ITU Secretary- how they are responding to this the world added Dr Touré, “We believe there are three General Dr Hamadoun Touré, change. In his opening address, noting that we are “At a tipping major characteristics for this China Mobile President and ITU Secretary-General, Dr point in our global society; a opportunity: smart devices, the CEO Mr Yue Li, Chairman of Hamadoun Touré, outlined some tipping point where the pace of cloud computing platform and

12 13 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com a 4G-based mobile broadband Technology of Thailand, Group between governments and the topics of the event: the pace network.” Captain Anudith Nakornthap ICT industry in the form of public and complexity of change Mr Li spoke of how 4G gave a warm welcome to the private partnerships, renewed in the ICT sector and in the development offered a very event, noting that “Being the regulatory approaches and world, including changing good window for the future of host of this notable event investment policies was the mobile and social technology, IP-based development. indicates the good sign of central message at the Forum end user needs and demands, Sharing views on the collaboration to strengthen Opening Conversation at ITU and operational processes; tremendous potential for mobile the ICT development in South Telecom World 2013. convergence across vertical technologies worldwide, H.E. East Asia to enhance the whole The debate, which set the scene sectors; and the position of the Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed region to be ready for the Digital for four days of discussion, end user at the heart of the Bin Saud Al Thani Chairman Era.” workshops, showfloor activities digital revolution. Underlying of Ooredoo said “We all Punctuating the ceremony and networking in Bangkok, all this is the importance of recognize that the world is more were impressive visual displays, touched on many of the key driving broadband deployment, connected than ever before. including a stunning dance There are almost 7 billion mobile spectacle which merged subscriptions around the world. traditional dancing against a Beyond the sheer spread of backdrop of digital Bangkok mobile technology, however, we today. The end of the ceremony need to recognize the human was marked with a countdown impact that this technology can as Leaders converged on stage have.” for a laser lightshow, marking One of the key challenges faced the launch of the week’s by the industry, according to His conversations. Excellency, is making sure the Forum opening conversation benefits of mobile broadband Top players debate sector technology are available to as transformation, broadband many people as possible. revolution & driving connectivity Concluding the speeches during worldwide. the Ceremony, the Minister for The urgent need for Information and Communication understanding and cooperation

14 15 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com the engine for transformational connecting the unconnected Programme, highlighted the ” he said, adding, “But knowing change for the industry and the and empowering the importance of moving to offer how broadband is the enabler people of the world. disenfranchised,” Dr Hamadoun prepaid services to lower- for all other sectors, the role of “We cannot limit ourselves to I. Touré, ITU Secretary-General income customers in driving government is crucial for the change in the industry – we reminded the audience of high connectivity in developing long-term in terms of allocation need a broader perspective with level delegates drawn from economies: “The business of spectrum, licencing fees and the whole ecosystem in mind, across the industry and all model which worked for the licence renewal”. other service providers, content corners of the world. cell phone in voice will work for Stressing the role of public providers, vertical industries, Several key steps to ensuring networks, encouraging vertical private partnerships in policy makers, regulators, the unconnected billions sector content in areas such implementing digital vendors, suppliers, application can reap the benefits of the as education and healthcare, deployment, Group Captain developers and NGOs, even digital world were outlined. allowing businesses to start up Anudith Nakornthap, Minister of our competitors”, said Reza Affordability, content, more easily and people to enjoy ICT for Thailand and host of ITU Jafari, reminding the audience infrastructure investment government services.” Telecom World 2013, stated, “It that “ICT is inside everything and balanced regulation are Dr. Nasser Marafih, CEO of is a win-win-win situation: public that impacts our everyday critical. Jon Frederik Baksaas, Ooredoo, outlined how his agencies obtain their policy life, every day, every minute CEO of leading mobile operator company’s relationship with objectives, private companies and every second.” He urged Telenor, said, “All stakeholders Telenor as fellow 3G licence make a profit, and the biggest sector stakeholders to actively need to be involved in getting holder in the new market of win goes to those who can enjoy participate in the transformation connectivity to happen. Mynamar could provide a blue broadband connectivity – the of not just the ICT sector, but Regulators and governments print for driving connectivity in people.” the other industries as well in a must distribute spectrum fairly the future: the two companies In an era of increasing “manifestation of collaborative to enable service providers to will cooperate on investment in convergence of services, innovation”. invest in infrastructure; handsets infrastructure and compete on ensuring a centralized approach “The broadband revolution, must be affordable to drive the service provision on the market within and across differing the mobile revolution and the network effect; and then local side. government agencies, balancing mobile broadband revolution content will play a tremendously “Working together to share as spectrum allocation equitably, are the backbone of our society, important role as a driver for the much as possible on passive and reinvesting licence windfalls of every aspect of social utilization of capacities.” infrastructure will bring down into projects which stimulate and economic development John Davies, Executive Vice costs, allowing us to develop the ICT sector are vital steps, the throughout the world, President of Intel’s World Ahead both new and existing markets, panellists concluded.

14 15 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com This was the first of over forty that broadband is the driver of private operators were willing to markets or being able to use panel debates, discussions, development.” to contemplate, said Maurrie email.” roundtables and workshops Citing the successful Asian Dobbin, Managing Director, Turning the conversation to running over the course of ITU example of South Korea, TeleResources Engineering, spectrum, Garnett warned Telecom World 2013 from 19 – 22 Dr James Hong, Senior Australia. “Universal regulation participants to expect the November, under the theme of Executive Vice President and can even out the playing field unexpected. “We might think Embracing Change in a Digital Chief Technology Officer at and ensures that all people we know what people need World. Korea Telecom, argued that have access to information and today and we might think we Riding the Data Wave competition has been the communication.” know what they need tomorrow Fixed and mobile operators most important factor in “As a regulator you don’t want but we don’t know what they are awash with demand as adopting broadband in the to put yourself in a position need five years from now,” he they surf the giant digital wave country. “There are three of distorting the market place argued. “Spectrum policy should generated by customers using service providers delivering the unnecessarily,” said Paul enable as much as possible and an ever-growing number of new principle services nationwide Garnett, Director at Microsoft create a flexible environment.” wireless devices. But will these which have generated fierce Technology Policy Group, “But There is also a danger that operators sink or swim? As the competition, driving broadband where there’s a clear instance spectrum can be regarded as data storm on European and penetration and innovative of market failure and no one is little more than an asset that American markets is set to hit services to customers,” he said. making the investment and the can be sold on by some more Asia, how best can providers However, while universal government has take some sort underhand operators warned meet the exploding demands of access is desirable, making it of role, it is appropriate. The fact Professor Prassit. users? These were issues tackled a condition for operators is that there is now fibre backbone “It’s a myth that the cost of by panellists during the debate. controversial. “Operators may in a lot of African countries entry is coming down and it is There are 2.7 billion people not want to lay out broadband solves a major issue but not a major problem,” said Dr John using the internet worldwide networks in very rural areas every country can afford to Ure, Director at TRPC. “There and with a further 4.4 billion and islands – it covers very few spend 40 billion like Australia.” are elements of a network that not yet online it represents a people in terms of investment However for the 4.4 billion in the are natural monopolies there tremendous opportunity for at great cost,” said Hong. “In world who don’t have access needs to be a level of regulation telecom operators and users this case the government should to the internet, broadband is to ensure open access. We alike. However, although help in these areas to avoid a whatever they can get that’s are living in an age where net broadband is booming globally digital divide.” cheap, continued Garnett. “They neutrality is a considerable it is growing unevenly – with Public private partnerships want something that will get threat. Operators are going developing countries lagging can be the key to getting them what they need. It could to block OTT services, so it’s behind. Increasing broadband broadband to isolated areas, as be as simple as getting access inevitable that a regulator by one megabit can increase shown in Thailand where the household income by 100 government works with many dollars per year but the cost small companies to facilitate of implementing broadband access, explained Professor infrastructure is immense. Prasit Prapinmongkolkarn from It took 140 billion dollars to the Department of Electrical partially cover the United States Engineering at Chulalongkorn and it will take massive amounts University in Thailand, adding of finance to roll out broadband that the Ministry of ICT has coverage around the world. funds specifically set aside for “The wholesale bandwidth broadband projects, minimising in Asia is up to five times the budget constraints. medium price than Europe,” While in Australia, there has said Abu Saeed Khan, Senior been a vigorous debate in Policy Fellow at LIRNEasia, investing in the 40 billion dollar Bangladesh. “Affordability cost fibre infrastructure and is becoming a critical issue. wiring to the home – it was an Governments have to recognise investment that none of the

16 17 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com adopts policies for one purpose Alcatel-Lucent Executive VP for with a lot of partnering, telco in favour of a more traditional only and that’s to encourage Global Government and Public operations and new services” structure in terms of the competition.” Affairs, Gabrielle Gauthey, – but only if the regulatory need for interoperability and “Some developing countries in saw the future technological balance can be ensured. portability, for universal service southeast Asia may just decide convergence of operators and For Andy Abramson, Founder and emergency communications to skip 3g and go straight to OTTs as all but unavoidable, of Communicano, a company, – and for someone to finance 4G,” concluded Hong. “The with service providers moving OTT is the marketplace of digital next generation networks, partnership model will help through enhanced services natives, who are carrier-disloyal, especially as it is the OTTs developing countries and their and the cloud towards the choosing device or handset themselves “who badly need children to access the internet core, using IT increasingly depending on their community good quality of services. The and over the next 20 years, the in the telco community and and friends, and wanting future is over-linked.” broadband gap should not be software defined network (SDN) portability above all: “The telco Urging a move away from “the widened but narrowed.” virtualization networks in data mindset is dying versus the web hostility metaphor”, Steck said, Shifting Roles for Telcos & OTTs centres. mindset, which is light and agile. “We are not in a war, we are Whether you like the term “At the same time, OTTs are The hacker mentality is 24/7, building a business. Different OTTs or not – and many on the expanding into networks telcos are 9 to 5. You have to interests in different business panel of this packed and lively and extending their footprint behave like an OTT to win the models is not the reflection of a session did not – providers from the core to the edge to battle against OTTs – if you want market reality – and you will lose offering services over public get better quality for services to catch a thief, be a thief.” the interconnectivity between internet or private networks not through agreements with We have to learn to mange these services if you end up related to the services run by telcos,” Gauthey said “Web data in a world where there are with only one or two or three of traditional network carriers are is connected to telco centres, no natural barriers anymore, these services”.* here to stay. And their potential decentralizing as the web where anyone can contact you Interconnectivity is the key to impact on revenue and strategic service operators move closer to and where we increasingly creating competition- or are development across the industry the end user.” suffer from “online personality developers fine with apps and remains the biggest source of IT is merging with IP, raising disorder” as we no longer know solutions that, in Dean’s words uncertainty, opportunity and issues of contrasting regulatory who is contacting us over which “enable the creation of private debate throughout the telco approaches and monetization device, he continued. Staying islands”? The future roles and world. of data flow. But it’s the lack of in a world with different silos ecosystems around telcos and The potential responses, an even regulatory playing field and different networks is still OTTs are still unclear and subject according to moderator Dean between OTTs and telcos that preferable. to debate – but telcos need to Bubley, Director of Disruptive is still the hot regulatory topic Gabrielle Gauthey countered innovate more quickly, bring Analysis, are as different as the as the two worlds intersect customer’s choice and use of through technology and a app itself: should telcos work range of partnerships between together with or against the established guardians of their internet peers, partner, and investors in access, and transform themselves into an relatively young and nimble web OTT, collaborate or undermine based service providers. by seeking to block or impose Provided an interesting charges? perspective from the Telefonica Representing one of those non- group, hedging its bets with an traditional players in the telco effective foot in each camp as space, Roy King of Microsoft both traditional operator and Lync focused on the use of new services umbrella company software to create value and Christoph Steck of Telefonica improve services for customers, Digital, said, “We debate eroding the boundaries and internally how to move forward, silo modalities of legacy whether new or traditional, and communications “to make the where the risks are involved. But user experience more seamless we believe that in the end the and easy”. relationship between OTTs and Former regulator and current telcos is going to be a good one,

16 17 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com services to market and move on essential. Ooredoo Myanmar Telenor were dual winners of like a printer or a fax. It will have quickly if these services fail. And CEO Ross Cormack explained the recent licenses to provide long half-life but won’t be the someone still has to invest in “We need to work together mobile coverage in Myanmar, only device anymore.” access and infrastructure, even with the OTTs, and if we do noted that the government of Further bad news for the PC in an increasingly virtualized that right the customers will be Myanmar had a clear vision of is the gulf that now exists environment. delighted.” Business models what it wanted to achieve with between accessing mobile Regional leaders convene at ITU need to be continually adapted its network rollout. Cormack apps over a mobile device to Telecom World 2013 and Telenor gave examples welcomed the Government’s over a desktop web, with users This session convened key of OTT /telco partnerships, approach to regulatory seamlessly switching between players from Telenor, AT&T, particularly in emerging markets flexibility. apps over mobile devices. Oordeoo and Celcom Malaysia where both players can team up Wrapping up the session Loeb Haven’t we arrived at the point, and looked at some of the to meet end user demand for a outlined the importance of asked Paul Papadimitriou, competitive issues facing service such as facebook using communication between the “where mobile is our social regional players today; OTT block prepaid systems. private sector and government, network?” After all, it might not challenges, emerging markets, New technologies such as with best results when there is wash our clothes yet, but with new technologies & regulation. M2M offer exciting potential, a good robust dialogue about everything else it has stored Countering or embracing OTTs initially around the enterprise services and challenges. on it from contacts to pictures was a key agenda item, with sector although also moving The Social & Mobile app world- or memories we certainly have panelists sharing their views on into the consumer sector. Here, friend or foe a special relationship with our this topical issue. With so many a thorough understanding of A lively line up of speakers phones. different players now operating business models and how they including Benedict Evans, Enders For Google’s Robbie Hills, this within the ICT ecosystem, could be applied to M2M will be Analysis, Robbie Hills, Google shift to mobile is very much Telenor’s Hakon Bruaset critical particularly in terms of and Oscar Veronese, InternetQ in evidence, with a number of Kjol began the conversation data transmission and billing. debated the social and mobile countries now where there is by reminding panelists of the ATT’s Eric Loeb drew attention app in a session moderated more search on mobile than importance of the different to some of the regulatory by Digital Intelligence’s Paul over desktop. Nevertheless roles for each of the players questions that M2M raises; Papadimitriou. many businesses are yet to within this ecosystem stressing including revenue models from The panel examined different wake up to this new operating “there are no OTTs if there is no these devices – if a sim based trends that characterize today’s environment. He explained network.” model were to be used, for ICT landscape, looking at the how, now that viewership Operators face a challenging example, then this could not key platform shifts. There have is increasing on mobile over business climate. On the one apply to a low ARPU device been two major shifts since desktop, a lot of businesses had hand they are required to make such as a soil moisture reader. 1999 ; namely that the internet to transition to operate in that investment in infrastructure and Regulation must be carefully boomed, and as a result of this environment; however “we see meet other obligations such as examined “If there is a strong many businesses that didn’t a lot of examples, many large providing rural connectivity. interest to see this part of the work in 1999 do now and, players (who are) not mobile Yet they also need to meet sector take off,” explained Loeb, crucially, mobile devices have ready and like an ostrich or emu, the challenges posed by OTTs “It will require a careful review now emerged to supplement are putting their head in the and adapt to changing user of rules in place, to decide which access to internet, creating a ground” behavior. Suresh Sidhu of of them have any relevance or vast extra pool of subscribers In this environment, telcos Celcom Malaysia summed up applicability on the M2M side.” worldwide on smartphones and absolutely need to know their dilemma of meeting both The issue of regulatory tablets where they are going. A key ends of the scale: “How do convergence was also high on We might see an initial adoption challenge they face is offering we continue to build the right the agenda for panelists, with of new technologies as a a service that makes sense for type of equitable access for our Telenor’s Kjol noting that they “choice” but they enter the them as a product offering. populations in coming years? are more often in talks with mainstream so rapidly they are According to Evans, telcos Operators need to strike the finance or healthcare regulators soon no longer a choice but an need to ask themselves what right balance, they need to be than telecoms. Sidhu said essential. And just as fast as this is it that they can do as a telco there with services people want convergence was an area that happens, existing technologies that is inherently part of their and position those services “progressive governments need head toward obsolescence. skill set and that they want to well.” to think about.” According to Benedict Evans do because they feel like it, Cooperation with OTTs, rather Government support is critical. “we are going into a world not because of competitive than shutting them out is Ooredoo, who along with where the PC will exist rather pressure. Failing to do so would

18 19 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com be, according to Evans, like a transfer seamlessly across a host “The number one consideration and a change in approach to municipal water company trying of different platforms. must be the consumer and regulation, said Elaine Chow, to get into the business of The panel shared views on the consumer protection,” insisted Head of Regulatory Affairs – Asia mineral water. very broad topic of where the Horne before acknowledging Pacific, Middle East & Africa, BT So what lies ahead for OTTs industry is headed. For Evans, that operators also need an Global Services. “The result of and telcos – a potentially happy the desktop web is “done”, but appeals process and transparent different regimes is that we are co-existence playing on each we can expect to see a lot of regulations to be confident not able to provide our products other’s key strengths according future interaction on mobile. to invest in the long-term. to our customers, or only a to Oscar Veronese of InternetQ, From apps to Siri and image “Whereas governments subset of what the customer as despite the challenges, recognition, the future is not set should be looking at what the wants. However, there is no “Operators ostensibly have a by any means. The ecosystem consumer wants, in many cases point in putting together a fantastic opportunity because around Android is also set to they regard the industry as a convergent regulator just for they own the consumers change, and to integrate further way of making money,” he said. the sake of ticking that box. and partnering OTTs could into China. Horne cited three major The convergent regulatory be a marriage that possibly The ability to seamlessly stakeholders when it comes framework should recognise benefits everyone.” Examples communicate the right message to regulation – consumers, that it cannot play catch up of this cooperation include, in whatever the device will be network providers and the with technology but has to be certain countries, operators critical, and show consumers the government, which is both a robust enough to cope with the utilizing their infrastructure right ad at the right time. Native policy maker and a consumer technology change.” and billing system and offering advertising will also be the as well as a major driver pulling Convergence of regulation is not bundled packages with players key and according to Google’s through technology and new, said Bocar A. Ba, CEO at such as WhatsApp. This type Robbie Hills, “we will start to services. SAMENA Telecommunications of approach is particularly see more native advertising “We have to look at the best Council in United Arab Emirates. appropriate in developing appearing in a mobile device and interests of consumers, but “We have converged regulators countries where there is a huge a mobile platform.” the balance of interests is today and they have worked. urban-rural speed gap. Summing up four key most important,” argued Dr. However, there is no content For OTTs and telcos alike, characteristics for winning Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn, regulator and content is king, the issue of consumer loyalty in the mobile space, Paul Commissioner at the responsible for driving the data continues to be critical moving Papadimitriou noted the National Broadcasting tsunami on the networks.” forward. Operators face the recipe for success as the “4Ss: and Telecommunications Paradoxically, regulation is of challenges of an increasingly social, seamless, simple and Commission (NBTC) in Thailand. little interest to the consumer. fickle youth market, switching sustainable…attributes that “Ignoring the balance of “Looking at my early-adopting SIM cards, and, according to needs to be built on to actually interests will, in the end, weaken students, they are technology- Veronese, of appealing to a win.” the interests of consumers.” agnostic. They don’t care brand, operator and handset Technologies are converging – Free and fair competition is the how they access technology. agnostic target market, in should regulation? best way to protect interests, he They just want access on particular in Asia, and will need There’s something wrong with maintained. their terms,” said Professor to work harder going forward regulation if it is dictated by or “Why do we want to regulate Rob Frieden, Professor of to engage with customers. OTTs dependent upon technology, the market? Because the market Telecommunications and will also face this challenge said Alan Horne, CEO of is not perfect,” said Wonki Law at Pennsylvania State of building brand loyalty in Broadband Pioneer in the UK, Min, Chairman Nominee of University. “As we move to an a marketplace that readily as he kicked off a lively debate ITU-PP 14 and Director-General IP centric environment, there is switches between apps even about the Convergence of at the Ministry of Science, an increasing emphasis placed according to region. Also, Regulation at ITU Telecom ICT and Future Planning of on scale, which means well despite high perceived value World 2013 in Bangkok on Korea. “Regulation is not capitalized organisations. So attached to OTTs- witnessed Tuesday 19 November. Panellists science, it is more like art. As the big players are going to get by the recent turning down of from Europe, Asia and the USA market characteristics differ in bigger, but in terms of consumer a US$3bn offer by Facebook gathered to discuss whether, each country, the discussion protection you are putting all to buy Snapchat – the panel as technologies increasingly surrounding the convergence of your eggs in one basket,” he pondered the question of converge, this should in turn regulation should reflect each added. revenue generation, particularly be matched by a convergence country’s market situation.” What came across loud and in a marketplace where of regulation at the national or After many false starts, we clear in the debate was the advertising needs to be able to even international level. are finally seeing convergence need for more cooperation and

18 19 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com coordination amongst telecom themselves in cyberspace alone transformation,” he said. and health. “Enabling customers operators and regulators as and unprotected”. He also He warned of the hurdles of to deploy and progressively well as the importance of reiterated the importance of establishing business models, manage connected objects organizations such as ITU in cooperation: “Working together standardization, interoperability, and end to end applications setting international standards with key players, sharing security and policies involved in in multiple domestic markets and standardizing technology. experiences, making use of turning the concept into reality, will grow demand, enabling While panellists recognized expertise, is what characterizes as well as integrating brown operators to benefit from global the need to instigate a change ITU’s work in building field or legacy units into a scale.” He continued with the in regulatory laws which are confidence and security in the new and complex ecosystem. call to action: “This is the time outdated and tied to past use of ICTs”. These concerns were echoed for enterprises and OEMs to technologies, the practicality of During the session, the by IBM Research’s Ling Shao, invest in connected objects”. doing it is very difficult. Secretary-General of the ITU, adding that it is important This was enthusiastically echoed Cybersecurity@ITU Telecom Dr. Hamadoun Touré reviewed to factor in and understand by Shawn Sanderson of Jasper World 2013 the overall achievements of device management, as well as Wireless, reiterating that The Cybersecurity Pavilion the ITU’s Global Cybersecurity remembering that security is a “IoT is no longer a futuristic organized a show floor session Agenda, and focused on one of multi-faceted concept: “When concept” as the M2M business on “Building Cybersecurity its key activity – the Child Online a utility or gas company talks has exploded worldwide in the Capabilities in the Developing Protection Initiative (COP), about security, they are talking past three years, adding, “There World: Needs, Challenges, debating its effects with the about safety and avoiding is huge value for operators in and the Role of Public-Private panelists. disasters, not simply security.” creating solutions that engage Partnerships”. The panel The Internet of Things – data, It is important to remember that with each other, like the discussed lessons learned from people, processes, but where the IoT is not a single market connected car.” ITU-IMPACT and partners’ are the business models? but is rather based on the Data generated by billions of current global cybersecurity Fast-paced developments in nature of individual businesses, machines is the driving force of efforts and how to move silicon engineering have brought which according to Ling fall the IoT, but it is not data alone forward in helping developing us to the edge of the Internet into three principal categories: that creates that enormous countries build robust of Things (IoT) – and a vast asset-intensive industries such potential value, said Cisco’s cybersecurity capabilities whilst market opportunity of 30bn, as utilities, for whom the value is Robert Pepper. Analytics is the respecting fundamental values 50bn or even 200bn connected in reliable, robust infrastructure key to creating actionable data and the economic importance of objects by 2025. Interest in the and better asset management; that can change processes; and the Internet. realities behind the buzz and the connected appliances and once you can change processes, The panelists were business models that might arise vehicles in the smart home, you can change people’s lives. representatives from both is high, as was evidenced by the where business models revolve In healthcare, for example, public and private sectors, standing-room only audience around the value-add of ICTs and the IoT are turning the including ABI Research, the for the panel of The Internet connectivity across massive concept on its head to monitor Cyber Guardian, Nuix, Symantec, of Everything at ITU Telecom numbers of devices; and the wellness and well-being, Omani Computer Emergency World 2013, moderated by ABI government level of smart cities, keeping people out of hospitals Response Team (OCERT), Research’s Stuart Carlaw. combining different cross sector in the first place through the and IMPACT Alliance. The And the benefits of this subsystems to cut costs and use of wearable technology and session was moderated by the enormous uncharted business improve efficiency overall. personal monitoring devices. Secretary-General of the ITU, Dr. opportunity will not be reaped As “agents of openness”, “This is people to machine and Hamadoun Touré. by one or two major companies, mobile-enabled consumer back to people again,” he said. Mr. Brahima Sanou, according to Robert Swinnen electronics are pivotal in the “Looking just in the commercial Director of ITU’s Bureau of Intel, but will be enjoyed by a ecosystem development, but sector, if there is an adoption of Telecommunication range of industry players, both operators have to go beyond of the IoT model across all Development (BDT) also traditional and new entrants. connectivity to create value, verticals…it can add more participated in the session. The “Analytics is the key component said Mr. Jean-Pierre Bienaimé, than 14 trillion dollars to the Secretary-General emphasized to get maximum value from Chairman, UMTS Forum, bottom line of companies over on the need to “recognize the IoT, as the generation of building on the M2M solutions 7 to 8 years. That’s a very big the very real dangers being data will be vast, and achieving already happening in fields number”. faced by children and young actionable information from such as geo-location tracking, Connecting those devices people online – who often find that data will produce business transportation, smart metering involves overlapping issues of

20 21 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com security, privacy and technol- Panelists at the Digital Dividend issues in this area which was plained SENEGAL, and is eager ogy, but involves above all Ministerial Roundtable, ably putting government against to reap the benefits of increased heterogeneity. Some devices moderated by ITU BR’s Francois private broadcasters. “Digital spectrum not just for the poten- will communicate over short Rancy shared views and debated migration is held hostage to the tial to enhance mobile broad- distances, some over longer the issues their countries were interest of broadcasters to the band service but also for its distances, some continuously, facing as they realize the transi- exclusion of other interests such potential to focus more on local some on a one-off or variable ba- tion from analogue to digital tv. as content,” he told the panel. content “Digital TV offers 100s sis – such as the pill containing Doan Quang Hoan, of Viet- On the other hand there is an of local channels, to concentrate a chip the size of a grain of sand nam’s Ministry of Information urgent need for the spectrum to on local content,” explained H.E which is activated by gastric and Communications began be freed up in order to deliver Mr Cheikh Mamadou Abibou- juices once swallowed, alerting outlining the manifold benefits much needed high speed inter- laye Dieye, Ministre, Ministère a patch worn by the user, before of the digital dividend noting net to rural areas. He noted that de la Communication et de travelling the long distance over that it is “not only for telecoms the regulator has been working l’Economie numérique, Senegal. the network to the consulting potential but for broadcast through these and other issues, Her Excellency Mme doctor checking to ensure the and all society.” He is eager to including that of set-top boxes. Léocadie Nihazi, Minister medication has been taken. boost broadband penetration in This was an issue referred to by of Telecommunications, So how would the panel define Vietnam and acknowledged the a number of other panelists, put- Information and Communication the IoT? For Pepper, it is things, potential of the new spectrum ting forward a set of different and Parliamentary Relations for data, process and people in to boost mobile broadband. solutions as to how their gov- Burundi spoke of her country’s an overall architecture; for Cost is an issue, however, as if ernments were dealing with it, awareness of the importance Bienaimé it is connectivity, broadband is deployed on a high with various options proposed of the digital dividend, having M2M and the Internet of frequency it is harder to deliver from subsidies to encouraging set up a governmental steering Objects where inert things low cost services. We need to private investment. committee, established a have or retrieve an identity; look for low frequency for wire- Covering a broad geographical regulatory framework around for Sanderson it is whatever less broadband he noted. area, yet sparsely populated, digital migration and embarked takes us on to the next stage Echoing the importance of Sudan needs a wider upon a public awareness of connectivity from where we the digital dividend, H.E Yunus electromagnetic coverage. A campaign. “We are looking for are today, “an evolutionary Carrim, Minister of Communica- key objective for Sudan, along ways to gather experiences step where devices and people tions for South Africa noted that with many other countries is from other countries, as worldwide interact with one he was acutely, excruciatingly to “make new technologies alone we are lagging behind, another”. aware of the tremendous value affordable” Like Kenya they but I can see all countries This was echoed by Ling, from the transfer to digital in noted the challenge of set-top sharing problems in this seeing IoT as simply the South Africa.” Nevertheless, boxes, noting that subsidizing area, exchanging problems infrastructure which will enable there have been some chal- them would be a challenge. on the road to achieving this a smarter planet: “Customers lenges to delivering this in South Another challenge would objective.” care about bandwidth, not what Africa owing to differences of be the limited number of Delivering a speech on behalf of it is called, they just want to opinion between different stake- broadcasting channels, here Cameroon, H.E. Jean-Louis Beh solve the business problem.” holders; broadcasters and manu- private investment would Mengue, Director General of the The IoT is already upon us facturers. He noted the looming be encouraged. The upside Telecommunications Regulatory and has enormous potential, deadline for the switch, as well is considerable, however Agency, outlined the country’s if issues of standardization as the urgent need to resolve “Analogue to digital transition digital transition en route to and interoperability can be spectrum issues to facilitate is an excellent opportunity to achieving the 2015 deadline. satisfactorily addressed – and broader delivery to rural areas. improve quality and (explore) Reallocation of frequencies if, as Stuart Carlaw pointed He noted that he was at ITU new options, social, educational, has been planned with respect out, the business models and Telecom World in order to “learn broadcasting in this part of to mobile broadband, an area monetization opportunities can and share experiences.” spectrum.” Explained H.E Dr where Cameroon has been be realised. It is all technically H.E. Dr Fred Matiang’i, Kenya’s Tahani Abdalla Attia Gasmalla, active for years in creating feasible – but still waiting Minister of Information, com- State Minister, Ministry of awareness of the “global needs convincing commercial apps to munications and technology Science and Communication for of frequency bands for IMT, as unleash that value. acknowledged the importance Sudan. harmonization is very important Digital Dividend: Challenges and of migration but noted that his Senegal is taking a subregional to allow everyone to take full opportunities country was experiencing some approach to its transition ex- benefit of economies of scale.

20 21 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com How the US Got Broadband Right

About Lowell C. McAdam and CEO of PrimeCo Personal Lowell C. McAdam is chairman Communications, a joint and chief executive officer venture owned by Bell Atlantic of Verizon Communications, and Vodafone AirTouch. He with responsibility for the also served as PrimeCo’s chief operations of Verizon, operating officer, responsible including all business units for overseeing the deployment and staff functions. In of the new company’s addition, he is chairman of customer service operations the Verizon Wireless Board of and all-digital network. Representatives. McAdam has also served as McAdam succeeded Ivan vice president-international Seidenberg as CEO on Aug. 1, operations for AirTouch 2011 and as chairman on Jan. 1, Communications and was 2012. lead technical partner for From October 2010 until he cellular ventures in Spain, assumed his current position, Portugal, Sweden, Italy, Korea McAdam served as president and Japan. McAdam joined and COO and had responsibility AirTouch as executive director for the operations of the of international applications company’s network-based and operations in 1993. From businesses -- Verizon Wireless 1983 to 1993, he held various and Verizon Telecom and executive positions with Business -- as well as Verizon Pacific Bell, including area Services Operations. He vice president of Bay Area was also responsible for the marketing and general manager technology management and of South Bay customer services. CIO functions. McAdam is past chairman Before that, McAdam held of the board of directors key executive positions at of the CTIA, the wireless By Verizon Chairman and CEO, Verizon: Lowell C. McAdam Verizon Wireless since its industry trade association. He inception in 2000 and built the is a director of the National the delivery of higher-quality, Point of View: How the US Got company into the industry’s Academy Foundation, a more cost-effective healthcare. Broadband Right leading wireless provider, partnership between business In addition, he is a member of The United States has a global with the nation’s largest, most leaders and educators that the Cornell University Board of leadership position in the reliable wireless voice and helps high schools across the Trustees. marketplace for broadband, 3G broadband data network. country establish and run He earned a bachelor’s degree and that the criticism by those He was president and CEO of technical and service academies in engineering from Cornell who paint “a dire picture of Verizon Wireless from 2007 to prepare students for college and a master’s degree in the state of Internet availability until being named COO of and careers. He is also co- business administration from in America,” or who want Verizon, and before that served chair of the CEO Council on the University of San Diego. He the government to ‘’fix’’ the as Verizon Wireless’ executive Health and Innovation, which also spent six years in the U.S. telecommunications industry, is vice president and chief encourages the adoption Navy Civil Engineer Corps and misplaced. operating officer. of innovative strategies to became a licensed professional AS senators consider President Earlier, McAdam was president improve employee health and engineer in 1979. Obama’s nomination of Tom

22 23 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com Wheeler to lead the Federal ing mobile ecosystem in which wireless technologies, century- other incentive for companies Communications Commission, new devices and applications old regulations designed for to invest in improving these some observers have painted are being used to do everything copper networks. Michael K. networks. In other words, a dire picture of the state of from personal health monitor- Powell, the F.C.C. chairman a decade ago the European Internet availability in America. ing and e-commerce to tracking during President George W. broadband market may have One legal scholar, Susan deliveries and saving energy. Bush’s first term, presided over looked healthy from the stand- Crawford, has argued that Contrast this with the European the decision to exempt new point of consumer pricing, but “prices are too high and Union, where innovation fiber-optic networks from the after 10 years of underinvest- speeds are too slow,” though and investment in advanced old regime of price controls ment, European households she supports Mr. Wheeler, a networks have stagnated and rate-of-return regulation. (only half of which have access venture capitalist and former under an onerous regulatory The fast deployment of 4G LTE to networks capable of speeds telecommunications lobbyist. regime that limits investment mobile broadband networks of even 30 megabits) have far Other critics have called for and innovation, and where across the country might not fewer broadband options and new government policies to today only about 2 percent have happened had Julius Gena- innovations than their American “fix” the telecommunications of households have access to chowski, the most recent F.C.C. counterparts. industry. broadband networks with 100- chairman, imposed a heavy- Regulatory prudence is the only Such criticisms are misplaced. megabit-plus speeds. “Once, handed regulatory approach way to keep up the momentum If he is confirmed, Mr. Wheeler Europe led the world in wireless toward the technology. in broadband innovation. We will have the good fortune to communication: now we have Regulatory restraint has result- are just beginning to see the be arriving at the F.C.C. at a fallen behind,” Neelie Kroes, ed in a robust broadband mar- potential of innovative cloud- time when the United States the European Union official ket, but today some self-styled based services, smartphones has gained a global leadership responsible for broadband policy advocates insist that and tablets to transform position in the marketplace for policy, said in a speech. “Europe America’s broadband market- education and job training. A broadband. needs to regain that lead.” place is badly broken and that recent study found that cloud More than 80 percent of The United States built its lead the only solution is to revert to computing could save enough American households live because companies invested Depression-era regulations, like energy to power Los Angeles in areas that offer access to nearly $1.2 trillion, over 17 years, government rate setting and for a year, the equivalent of broadband networks capable to deploy next-generation price controls or rules dictat- 23 billion kilowatt-hours of of delivering data with speeds broadband networks. These ing what types of competitive electricity. The broadband in excess of 100 megabits investments, which began offerings broadband providers ecosystem is more than per second. Almost everyone with the passage of the Tele- can offer consumers. These service providers and carriers. in the country has several communications Act of 1996, ideas, however, are part of the Our regulatory system competitive choices for high- were neither accidental nor rigid bureaucratic approach needs to protect consumers speed broadband service (with inevitable; they were a result that European regulators like while allowing market wireline, satellite and wireless of deliberate policy decisions Ms. Kroes have correctly identi- participants — developers options). Verizon offers 14.7 by Congress and by Democratic fied as stifling. of mobile applications and million consumers, in parts of and Republican administrations Since 1996, as America encour- operating systems, handset 12 states and the District of alike to protect consumers aged the growth of its broad- manufacturers or operators of Columbia, speeds up to 300 while encouraging companies band industry, European regula- mobile virtual networks — to megabits per second via our to invest in nascent technolo- tors have adopted policies that innovate. FiOS network, which is poised gies that are now flourishing. generally limited network infra- There is no telling what will to provide even greater speeds “If you look at the problems structure deployment to a sin- come out of this next wave of in the future. Companies like our customers and society gle facility in a given country or change. For its potential to be AT&T, Comcast and Time have, we have never been in region. Other companies were fully realized, however, it will Warner Cable are also investing a better position than we are allowed to “resell” broadband be critically important for the in their infrastructure. today to provide powerful services to consumers, but only industry to work with regula- Fifty-six percent of American answers to help solve those if they used the same infrastruc- tors — led, we hope, by Mr. adults have smartphones that problems”- Lowell C. McAdam ture. This “retail” competition Wheeler — to continue the give them access to mobile President Bill Clinton’s ad- resulted in prices that may have bipartisan policies that have broadband data and video. Our ministration decided not to covered the costs of opera- made our fast-changing indus- country is the center of a boom- impose, on the Internet and tions but left little capital or try a global leader.

22 23 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com 10 Excellent Platforms for Building Mobile Apps By: Grace Smith

If you’ve ever wanted to build an app for your business, blog, product or service, but the heavy investment of both time and money put you off, you’re not alone. The good news is that entering the mobile market no longer necessarily requires thousands of dollars and months of work. There are many mobile platforms available to help you build an app on a budget — quickly, and with no coding knowledge required. With a small investment, you can create and manage your mobile site or application using one of the platforms listed below, and start reaping the advantages of offering your customers a dedicated mobile experience, including increased awareness, engagement and revenue.

1. Appery Appery is a cloud-based mobile app builder that you can use to create apps for Android, iOS and Windows Phone, and includes Apache Cordova (Phone Gap) with access to its built-in components. Since the builder runs in the cloud, there’s nothing to install or download, and it’s easy to get started quickly. It includes a visual editor using drag and drop components to build the UI. You can connect to any REST API and use it in your app, and instantly add a cloud database and backend to your app if you need to store data. You can add powerful functionality with the Appery plugin catalog, or create your own custom private plugins to use in your apps. Collaboration is simple, allowing you to share your mobile project with development teams, business users and customers in real time. Price: Plans start at Free and go up to $180 per month for Premium

2. Mobile Roadie Mobile Roadie is an app creator that allows anyone to create and manage their own iOS or Android app. The platform supports all media types, with automatic importing of RSS, Twitter or Google News keywords, and an auto-refreshing fan wall through which users can chat with each other in real time. You can use the free Mobile Roadie Connect app to preview your app accurately, just as your users would on their devices. The app also guides you through the submission process, with Mobile Roadie checking the quality and appropriateness of your content. You can push content straight to your app and pull content from it to your own site or blog. The API is language agnostic, so you can pull data in a variety of formats, including XML, JSON, PHP, CSV and HTML. You can easily craft a custom look and feel for your app and apply that to all platforms, and use the suite of marketing tools once your app is launched. Price: Plans start at $125 per month (Core) and go up to $667 per month (Pro).

24 25 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com 3. TheAppBuilder 4. Good Barber

TheAppBuilder provides a suite of apps to suit employees, clients, events and brochures, with two different approaches Good Barber provides a platform to build iPhone and Android available. You can build the app using the online toolkit, and apps, allowing you to take control of every detail of your app either the training provided or TheAppBuilder itself will work without producing a single line of code. Nine colorful, highly with you to define and build the structure of the app and customizable design templates are available to get started, with populate it with initial content. 350 beautiful icons and access to over 600 Google Fonts. Using the dedicated AppLibrary, you can provide your users Along with native iPhone and Android apps, you have a free web with a window into multiple apps and even customize it with mobile version, which users access from their phones’ browsers. your own branding. You can protect both public and private You can also link this to your domain name, if you want it to apps with usernames and passwords, and distribute them via become the official mobile version of your website. the app store, making use of TheAppBuilder’s Active Directory You receive immediate visual feedback every time you adjust integration to enable login with existing credentials and user any parameters in your app. Send unique, actionable push groups. Updating the structure and content of your apps is notifications and convert your readers into contributors by easy, even after you go live, because you can make unlimited letting them submit articles, photos and videos. You can also updates and publish on multiple mobile platforms in one click. organize your app and add sections ranging from videos, The platform supports native iPhone, iPad and Android, with photos, sounds, live events and more. updates going live within 60 seconds of submitting a change. Price: Plans start at $16 per month and go up to $32 per month Price: Pricing available upon request for the Full Plan

5. Appy Pie

Appy Pie is a cloud-based DIY mobile app creation tool that allows users without programming skills to create an app for Windows, Android and iOS, and publish it to Google Play or iTunes. There’s nothing to install or download -- just drag and drop pages to create your own mobile app online. Once it’s complete, you receive an HTML5-based hybrid app that works with all platforms, including Blackberry. All revisions are in real time, with the ability to send push notifications, monetize with ads, see live analytics, and track location with GPS. You can also integrate social media feeds, blogs, websites, audio, radio and more. The appointment scheduler is especially useful for businesses such as Doctors, Salons or Spas with contact features such as one touch call, QR codes included. Using the code page you can embed custom code and embed iframes. Price: Plans start at Free and go up to $33 per month for Platinum

24 25 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com 6. AppMachine AppMachine is an easy-to-use platform to build and design professional native apps for both iOS and Android. Using the drag- and-drop interface, you can combine different building blocks that offer a variety of features, such as information, photos and video. The building blocks also let you link your app to Facebook, Twitter, or online stores. You can design the app in your own unique style and choose your navigation paths, colors, fonts and icons, taking complete control of layout and watching your progress using the Previewer. Test your app as you build it and check its progress on your computer, mobile or tablet. Once your app is fully tested and ready to go, you can publish and promote your app, and analyze the user data. AppMachine takes care of everything you need to get your app into Apple’s App Store and Google Play. Price: Plans are one-time fee only, and start at $499 (Gorgeous) and go up to $899 (Designer). A $1299 option (Developer) will be available soon.

7. GameSalad 8. BiznessApps

GameSalad allows you to create and publish games for a BiznessApps provides a platform to help create mobile apps variety of platforms, including iOS, Android, HTML5 and OS X. for businesses a very simple process. It provides a wealth Its drag-and-drop interface allows you to get started quickly, of features, including food ordering, shopping cart, loyalty without the need for any programming knowledge. programs, dynamic content, third party integrations, push The game creator features a scene and actor editor, where you notifications, comprehensive analytics and more. spend most of your game creation time, setting up actors in a The easy-to-use content management system allows you to scene and creating attributes, images, sounds and navigating create an app in minutes, and customize everything using pre- between actors. The active community forum is a huge plus, built designs or your own. There are also real-time previews to with access to help and advice from fellow independent game check your progress as you design and develop your app. designers. You can instantly update your app online, and modify everything GameSalad recently teamed up with Amazon to offer access inside, without having to send your app for a lengthy update to development options specifically optimized for the Kindle with Apple or Google. There are weekly webinars on how to Fire platform, including drag-and-drop integration with in-app build beautiful mobile apps using the BiznessApps platform, purchase and GameCircle APIs. along with access to hundreds of tutorial articles, to help make Price: Plans start at Free and go up to $299 per year for Pro the process even easier. Price: Plans start at $29 per month for mobile website and go up to $59 per month for mobile app

26 27 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com 9. AppMakr

AppMakr is a DIY app creation platform that lets anyone craft iOS, Android and HTML5 apps, with no coding knowledge required. It was founded in 2009, and recently acquired by Infinite Monkeys, to now form one of the largest DIY app publishing platforms worldwide. You can make as many apps as you want, with unlimited updates, and utilize a number of features, including push notifications, high resolution photo galleries, live updates, music and video streaming, chat rooms, Google Maps integration, shared events calendars, in-app shopping, and much more. You keep track of all your apps through the Dashboard, easily customize your app’s looks and functionality, add content with tabs, preview your app in real time and publish it to the markets with a single click. Price: Plans start at Free and go up to a $99 one-time fee for Self-Publish

10. ShoutEm ShoutEm offers an app builder with complete content management, powerful user engagement tools and monetization options, coupled with a seamless publishing process, to provide a robust solution for most requirements. The interface builder offers many customization options, and each app can be tightly integrated with existing content sources such as WordPress, Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter, SoundCloud and more. The multiple monetization options means you can quickly create a revenue stream from your app, providing an e-commerce experience, in-app subscriptions, deals and coupons, with support for all major ad networks included. You can publish your apps under your developer account to both iTunes and Google Play, and update your app or content in real-time. ShoutEm also offers regular auto-updates, to ensure your app is always ahead of new iOS and Android updates. Price: Plans start at $19.90 per month and go up to $119.90 per month for Unlimited

Samsung Extends HomeSync Compatibility to More Android Devices Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, whole family’s digital content, with five devices each, so that of Android gaming, videos, and a leader in mobile technology delivers an immersive big screen the whole family can save and music, or flip through photos and digital solutions, today TV entertainment experience, share images, music, videos, on your home television for announced it will extend and brings users a whole new documents and files from any a full HD viewing experience. compatibility of HomeSync to way of enjoying HDTV through registered device. Easily enjoy You can also use your mobile more Android devices. Through a familiar and smarter Android content in HomeSync through device as a remote mouse, with the Google Play app store, more user experience. a variety of multimedia devices easy control of compatible Android devices – including HomeSync provides one by mirroring content from devices. Enjoy the full Android non-Samsung devices – will be terabyte of private cloud your device on your TV in full experience with access to able to enjoy the benefits of storage, which is enough room HD using an HDMI cable, or Android-based services from HomeSync. to upload 10 photos daily for 82 connecting to your music player Samsung like Samsung Apps, HomeSync is a home hub years, or five minutes of home through an optical audio port. Media Hub and Video Hub, as solution that provides enough video for 10 years. The device With HomeSync’s Android well as Google services like storage space to protect the supports up to eight users Media Center, enjoy the best Google Play and YouTube.

26 27 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com David Cameron Opens Sina Weibo Account to Repair China’s ‘Hurt Feelings’ By: LILY KUO

United Kingdom Prime Minister said, “Now you’ve got the David Cameron and a retinue money. Go back and don’t of more than 100 business see the Dalai Lama again.” representatives — the largest- Another blogger said, “If the ever British trade delegation to 19th century belonged to the go to China — descended on British empire and the 20th Beijing Monday. Cameron met century was the US’s empire, with Chinese premier Li Keqiang, than the 21st century must discussing a multibillion-dollar be the century of the Chinese free trade deal between China empire!” and the EU, as well as a separate Cameron and his delegation one with just the UK that the have two more days to win British government says could over the Chinese public. In generate up to £1.8 billion think it could be boosted even Chinese dream as well as long- that time, analysts expect ($3 billion) per year for the more. term prosperity for Britain.” a deal announcing Chinese economy. Thus, to assuage the hurt Cameron’s Weibo account investment in British Cameron is also in China to do feelings of the Chinese, Cameron already has more than 150,000 infrastructure projects. After some damage control. Relations became one of the first leaders followers and thousands of meeting with Cameron, Li between the two countries to open an account on Chinese comments on the six messages said China is interested in have been cool since Cameron social media site Sina Weibo, he’s so far posted — not bad cooperating with the UK on met the Dalai Lama last May, joining Venezuelan President for four days. But not all of its controversial high-speed rail prompting the Chinese foreign Nicolás Maduro and former the comments welcome his project and more nuclear power. ministry to claim that he had Australian Prime Minister Kevin charm offensive. Responding China Nuclear Corp, as part of a “hurt the feelings of the Chinese Rudd. Cameron also penned to Cameron’s latest post on consortium led by Électricité de people.” It didn’t hurt UK-China an editorial in a Chinese financial- a ceremony for a £4.5 billion France, is building two nuclear trade — British exports to China news publication, Caixin, that deal for British carmaker Jaguar reactors in the UK. Another were 20% higher in the first three called for ”a partnership of Land Rover to provide 100,000 Chinese firm is building a second quarters of 2013 than in 2010 as growth and reform that would cars to China’s National Sales financial district on the outskirts a whole — but British officials help the achievement of the Company, one Weibo user of London.

28 29 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com Unlocking the Mind with Brain- Computer Interfaces By Jessica Barfield Introduction Some people afflicted with a severe form of neurological disease are essentially “locked in” their own bodies. They are conscious but cannot move or communicate verbally due to paralysis of nearly all of their voluntary muscles except for their eyes; for those with total locked-in syndrome, even the eyes are paralyzed. While many locked-in patients retain awareness and cognitive capabilities, those with central nervous system damage enter into a minimally conscious state, showing fluctuating signs of awareness. Neurodegeneration, the progressive loss of neuron structure or function, is a notable cause of locked- in syndrome. Of the many diagnosed with the disease in progressive degeneration of the the brain stem, and the spinal neurodegenerative disorders, the 1930s), ALS affects over motor neurons in ALS eventually cord. Over time, ALS causes amyotrophic lateral sclerosis 30,000 Americans and has an leads to the inability of the brain the motor neurons in the brain and a minimally conscious incidence of 5,600 people per to initiate and control muscle and spinal cord to shrink and state are often associated with year in the U.S. movement. disappear, causing the muscles the locked-in state. But with The distinct physical defects It is also this loss of motor to no longer receive the signals the recent advancements in associated with ALS are easily neurons that makes ALS that induce movement. In the technology, researchers can deducible from its name. patients likely to enter a state absence of use, the muscles now develop brain-computer “Amyotrophic” means that of being locked in. Motor atrophy, becoming smaller and interfaces that assist these the muscles have lost their neurons are nerve cells that weaker. And when the muscles patients in interacting and nourishment; when this control muscle movement, no longer work, the body communicating with the world. happens, they become smaller and the neuromuscular system becomes paralyzed. But despite Lou Gehrig’s Disease and and weaker. “Lateral” indicates that enables our body to paralysis, ALS patients, even at Minimally Conscious State that the disease affects the sides move is made up of the brain, an advanced stage, can still see, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis of the spinal cord, where the many nerves, and muscles. hear, smell, and feel; the nerves (ALS) is a progressive nerves that nourish the muscles Unfortunately, ALS damages that carry the sensation of neurodegenerative disease that are located. Lastly, “sclerosis” motor neurons in the brain hot, cold, pain, or pressure are affects nerve cells in the brain means that the diseased part and spinal cord. Specifically, not affected by ALS. For some and the spinal cord. Often also of the spinal cord develops it results in the death of both people with ALS, the parts of called Lou Gehrig’s disease (after hardened or scarred tissue in upper and lower motor neurons the brain that allow us to think, the hall-of-fame baseball player place of healthy nerves. The in the motor cortex of the brain, remember, and learn are also

28 29 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com affected by the disease. Once due to neurological damage. brain with electrical pulses. such that they are locked in their ALS progresses, the person’s These devices will give the To address deficiencies with body and unable to interact central nervous system motor patients the opportunity to current brain-computer and communicate directly with neurons may be so damaged communicate by reading their interfaces, such as a limitation the world, a brain-computer that the person becomes totally brain signals. of implantable recording interface may provide them paralyzed, essentially locked in Detecting a person’s brain sites and the degradation with a means to communicate his or her own body. activity may allow patients to of the electrodes’ recording and control prosthesis. For Another severe neurological activate prosthetics or command performance over time, people with MCS, an implantable condition that leads to the loss computers, providing them the researchers at Berkeley are electrode stimulating the brain of the ability to interact and ability to regain the functions developing a system that will may allow them to regain communicate with the world is a they have lost to the disease. If allow thousands of ultra-tiny consciousness and awareness minimally conscious state (MCS). people afflicted with ALS could neural-dust chips to be inserted of their environment. The People suffering from MCS are control a computer through into the brain to monitor neural development of these brain- so impaired with immobility that thought alone, the computer signals at high resolution. The computer interfaces could not they have trouble performing could then serve as an interface particles of neural dust are no have been possible without the basic life activities. While they for these patients to operate more than 100 micrometers manufacturing of inexpensive are usually able to breathe light switches, television, a across and each particle is a computer hardware and without a respirator, they lack robotic arm, and communicate sensor capable of measuring software, the scientific research the means to communicate to their loved ones – something electrical activity in neurons. The on the nature and functional meaningfully, have bladder and that over 160,000 people in the system is covered in polymer correlates of brain signals, bowel incontinence, and require United States who cannot move to render it biologically neutral and the improved methods feeding tubes. MCS patients their arms and legs would surely and backed by a piezoelectric for recording these signals. are also severely cognitively welcome. material that can convert Nevertheless, more research impaired, although they do Another example of technology electrical signals into ultrasound. will be needed to develop better seem to have some definite, but that assists people with severe The researchers envision a brain-computer interfaces that extremely limited, awareness neurological damage is the brain- system in which thousands further improve the quality of of themselves and their computer interface, designed of neural dust sensors are life for people locked in their environment, and limited means to assist patients suffering from constructed at the tips of fine own bodies or suffering from of communication. They are able MCS. Dr. Ali Rezai and colleagues wire arrays, which would then MCS. to experience pain and suffering at Ohio State University, and be inserted directly into brain In summary, brain-computer to some degree, although the Maysam Ghovanloo at the tissue. Signals from the brain interfaces may assist those degree of pain and suffering Georgia Tech Bionics Lab are would be detected by a sub- locked in their body with the often cannot be determined. developing techniques in dural transceiver that sits just ability to communicate and Brain-Computer Interface neuromodulation, or deep above and ultrasonically powers interact with the world. As Brain cells communicate brain stimulation (DBS). DBS is the dust chips. The transceiver shown by the Berkeley team, by producing tiny electrical a surgical procedure that can would then relay the data to an the new technology currently impulses that facilitate create dramatic improvements external transceiver resting just under development may greatly processes such as thought, for a patient suffering from outside the skull, which in turn assist those with other severe memory, consciousness, and neurological disorders. In a DBS would communicate wirelessly neurological disorders. Given the emotion. Even people who procedure, the surgeon implants with a computing device. Once recent developments in brain- are locked-in and unable to millimeter-thin electrodes in the the sensors are pulled free computer interfaces, the future speak or gesture still produce brain and a small device that of the wire, the arrays would holds great promise for people these electrical impulses powers the electrodes in the withdraw. One of the serious locked-in their own bodies, within the brain areas that patient’s chest. The electrodes design challenges to overcome aware and awake but unable to plan movements. These signals deliver tiny electrical signals that in this system is to make sure move or communicate verbally can be detected by implanted block abnormal brain signals. the system is efficient enough to due to complete paralysis of micro-electrodes and computer The results produced by Rezai’s avoid producing heat between nearly all voluntary muscles in chips that detect, pick up, and team have shown that people the skull and brain. the body. Finally, the use of translate these impulses. Using who have spent years in a near- Conclusions and Future implantable electrodes within this technology, researchers vegetative state have made Directions the person’s brain may also are developing devices to help dramatic recoveries following For people suffering from provide a way to treat those in people with limited motor skills treatment to stimulate his or her neurodegenerative diseases a MCS.

30 31 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com Mobile devices allowed on EU flights By Dave Keating

Commission confirms plan to the recommendation of the use. Airlines may choose to install of world’ rates would still be allow the use of 3G and 4G European Aviation Safety 3G or 4G connections on their cheaper than the €10 per minute signals on flights. Authority (Easa) last month, aircraft. The use of ground- normally charged by on-board Siim Kallas, European which itself was a response based wireless signals will still airplane phones. commissioner for transport, to a similar ruling by the US not be allowed because it could The Commission has asked the confirmed that European Union Federal Aviation Authority (FAA). interfere with ground-based EASA to accelerate a safety airlines may begin allowing the The decision was made after systems. review looking into another use of mobile phones during concerns about mobile devices The 3G or 4G signals installed possible expansion, which could flights above 3,000 metres. interfering with in-flight systems on airplanes would charge include the use of ground signals. Portable electronic devices may were proven to be unwarranted. passengers at international This review will be completed in now also be used in ‘flight mode’ Announcing the change today, rates. The sky is considered as early 2014. throughout the flight, from gate Kallas stressed that the decision a third country even when the Kallas said that the Commission to gate. Until now, these devices does not mean passengers have plane is in EU airspace. Charges is also considering lifting some had to be turned off completely an automatic right to use phones for data, texts and voice calls security restrictions on liquids at during takeoff and landing. in flight. It is rather up to the would therefore not be capped airports. An announcement on The announcement confirms airlines whether to allow phone at EU rates. However the ‘rest this is expected in February, 2014.

30 31 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com Drake & Scull International explores expansion opportunities within Oman’s aviation sector Company bids for major MEP contracts on basis of expertise & local knowledge

Drake & Scull Engineering (DSE) of the major construction contractors. Our state-of-the- Oman, the subsidiary of Drake and expansion works for the art engineering solutions along & Scull International PJSC (DSI), airports undertaken by DSE with our global experience a regional market leader in the include Abu Dhabi International in aviation sector makes us integrated design, engineering Airport Terminal Phase II strong contender for rising and construction disciplines and the extension of the opportunities with Oman’s of General Contracting, military airbase in Dubai, both aviation sector.” Mechanical, Electrical and in the UAE; Kai Tak Airport and DSI continues to enhance Plumbing (MEP), Water and Phase I Air Cargo Terminals and strengthen its services, Power, Rail and Oil and Gas, has in Hong Kong; New Doha offerings with unmatched announced its expansion plans International Airport CP15 vertical integration and global in the country’s aviation industry in Qatar; and Dar Es Salaam footprint. The company collaborative capabilities as they bid for several key International Airport in Tanzania. successfully achieved total of the Engineering services projects within the sector. The Tawfiq Abu Soud, Managing Revenues of AED 3.56 billion (MEP and Water and Power), highly strategic and timely move Director of Drake & Scull and total Net Profit of AED 145 General Contracting, Oil and is based on their in-depth local Engineering, said: “DSI’s million for the first nine months Gas, Rail and Infrastructure knowledge as well as expertise expansion in Oman and GCC of 2013. Total project awards development and continued in MEP works within the aviation is a strategic move in light of year-to-date reached AED 6.74 to deliver strong performance sector. the exponential growth of the billion in KSA, UAE, Qatar, and quality work on project The key strength for DSE region’s aviation sector. There Algeria, Jordan, India, Romania sites. Armed with a multicultural Oman lies in its comprehensive is a growing demand for MEP and Turkey. The company’s workforce, inherent financial contracting services that services as the aviation industry Order Backlog reached a record strength and solid regional address the challenges within seeks assistance in sectors high, closing at AED 12.4 billion experience, the company’s the aviation sector along such as energy, environment as of September 30, 2013 outlook remains positive in with necessary expertise and sustainability, public health, and compared to AED 7.5 billion terms of realising greater technologies to overcome safety and security protocols recorded during the same period profitability and improving all obstacles to ensure timely and represents tremendous of 2012. productivity across MENA, completion of a project. Some opportunities for MEP DSI successfully achieved South Asia and Europe

du now offers the lowest international call rates to Pakistan

The best value international country’s lowest setup fee of Chief Commercial Officer, du. calling rates for prepaid from du only AED 0.5 per call! “We design our offers to meet and the lowest call setup fee! The promotion also includes nine our customers’ needs. They gave other countries: Afghanistan, us their feedback about what If you’ve got family and friends in Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, they wanted, and we delivered. Pakistan that you call frequently, Indonesia, Iran, Nepal, and There’s now even more flexibility then you’re going to love this! Nigeria. Call Home for Less is the to speak with family and friends du has added a tenth country to smart choice for anyone looking in our top 10 most popular its incredible Call Home for Less for the best international calling international calling destinations, international calling promotion rates to the network of their our customers, and we’re for the lowest setup fee in the – prepaid customers can now choice in no less than 10 top proud to expand the number UAE.” call any network in Pakistan with destinations. of countries that can be called the lowest call rate in UAE – just “Our Call Home for Less for such special rates to include 0.5fils per second, with the promotion is a great hit with Pakistan,” said Fahad Al Hassawi,

32 33 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com EIAST Releases first images of DubaiSat-2 The Satellite captured the first image within 24 hours after launch

The Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technol- ogy (EIAST) has announced that the recently launched DubaiSat-2 earth observation satellite has successfully been deployed in orbit and all systems have been tested and verified. The first communication with DubaiSat-2 was established just over an hour after separation from the Dnepr rocket and the mission critical telescope was operated successfully and it captured the first image just 24 hours after launch, the area captured was of Seer Bani Yas island in Abu Dhabi. DubaiSat-2 provides 1m resolu- tion in the panchromatic band and 4m multispectral as well as a color 1m product, the imaging make sure we continue devel- Services Department, said: “The electrical propulsion system that swath is 12 km and DubaiSat-2 oping the UAE and its young satellite operations team at allows the control of its altitude has the ability to image and engineers. EIAST was successful in stabiliz- above ground level and modi- download more than 18,000 “Since its launch, DubaiSat-2 ing the satellite and testing all fies it automatically in the event square kilometers a day from its has orbited the globe capturing subsystems. The first contact of any deviation from the orbit Dubai Ground station based in Al images from all five continents, with the satellite was established through a set of predetermined Khawaneej. the satellite has imaged over 833 90 minutes after launch, and the and saved commands sent from Salem Al Marri, Assistant Direc- images, which is equivalent to team used two different ground the control station. The new tor General for Scientific and 120,000 square kilometre. These stations to track the satellite and satellite is equipped with in- Technical Affairs, EIAST, said: images will be utilized in many monitor its condition. Once we novative technology to enhance “The launch of DubaiSat-2 marks such as in monitoring develop- made sure that the system was maneuvering capability and a milestone for EIAST, our team ment projects, urban planning, stable we started imaging differ- increase agility by 300 per cent as has participated in the design environmental monitoring, and ent areas around the globe to compared to Dubai Sat-1. and development of 50% of this in different value added products test the camera and calibrate the DubaiSat-2 was launched into mission and it has taken over developed by EIAST team to sup- sensors”. space from the Yasny Launch 5 years of development, it is a port decision makers in different EIAST has released images from Base in Russia on board the very proud moment for us to see sectors. We plan to work with DubaiSat-2 taken from all over Dnepr space launch vehicle on the results of all the hard work all government departments the world in 1 meter resolution, November 21, 2013. and dedication of the team, The to ensure maximum usage of the areas imaged include the EIAST was established by the satellite is the culmination of these images for the benefit Golden Gate bridge in San Fran- Dubai Government in 2006 with joint efforts over the last five of UAE and its people.,” added cisco, Tokyo Bay, The Coliseum the goal of promoting a culture years between the UAE and the Omran Sharaf, EIAST’s Director in Rome and an image of Burj of advanced scientific research South Korean development team of Space Image Processing & Khalifa taken just before National and technology innovation in and throughout the long mission Analysis Department, EIAST. Day on December 1st. Dubai and the UAE, and en- development time in Korea our Commenting on the operation DubaiSat-2 weighs 300 kg and is hancing technology innovation team has done its best to lift the of the satellite, Mohammed 2 meters in height and 1 meter and scientific skills among UAE UAE flag high into space and Alharmi, Director of Ground wide. It is equipped with an Nationals.

32 33 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com Genetically Modified Foods: The Consequences of Agricultural Design

By: Dr. Javid Iqbal

The Green Revolution was In the late 20th century the protection through the driven by good intentions, born in 1944 from the hands Green Revolution gave birth introduction of resistance gamble with the forces of of Norman Borlaug, who won to the novel technology that against plant diseases caused nature and natural selection. the Nobel Prize in 1970 for extended Borlaug’s work by by insects or viruses or Recent studies have shown his attempts to eradicate the altering crops at the genetic through increased tolerance that despite the great promise problem of starvation in the level—namely GMOs, or to herbicides. Insect resistance of this technology to benefit developing world. Borlaug genetically modified organisms. is achieved by incorporating quality of life for many people, styled wheat crops with simple These crops, styled to meet the gene for toxin production GM crops pose a potential techniques of cross-breeding, the needs of the consumer, from the bacterium Bacillus threat to the environment and harvesting, and planting to promised higher yield and thuringiensis (BT) into the to human health. The problem produce disease-resistant strains ultimately a lower cost of food plant’s genome. Virus resistance of GM crops and their effects on of wheat in hopes of countering production. GMOs would make is achieved through the the environment are unlike any the effects of stem rust, an it possible for farmers to grow introduction of a gene from problem that has been faced infectious fungus that was crops on land formerly viewed certain viruses that cause before because they involve killing wheat crops in Mexico. as inhospitable. The crops could disease in plants, and herbicide the creation of a product that His techniques proved to be now be designed to withstand tolerance is accomplished can change and modify itself successful and Borlaug sought the conditions of the land and through the introduction for survival. Many organizations to spread this new knowledge improve crop protection. of a gene from a bacterium and governments concerned to the agricultural sectors of the The GM crops currently on conveying resistance to some with these negative effects poverty stricken countries of the the market are mainly aimed herbicides. have raised vocal opposition to developing world. at an increased level of crop These strategies, though GMOs. Some countries have not

34 35 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com only banned GMO production farmed. GM crops also decrease new proteins will cause allergic antibiotic resistance genes but also GMO research. It is now the potential for the spread of reactions. An example of the cause infection, they can be very imperative to weigh the benefits human diseases because they allergen threat that GM foods difficult for doctors to treat. and risks of GM crops and think allow growing populations present is seen in the case of As a precautionary measure, critically not only about how to spread out rather than Brazil nuts and soybeans. A some experts say that antibiotic these crops affect the U.S. but concentrate in agriculturally- protein from Brazil nuts was resistance genes should not also about how they affect the bound locations. introduced into soybeans to be used. A gene transfer could developing world. GM crops can also be modified make them more nutritious, but also result in the new gene Benefits to provide better nutrients— it was found that individuals deactivating an existing gene, By introducing methods to another important benefit for who were allergic to Brazil nuts with dramatic consequences for increase crop productivity areas with high incidence of were also severely allergic to human health. for farmers—improving malnutrition. the GM soybeans. In the last The environmental risks resistance to disease, pests, and Other GM foods that are being several years researchers have involved with GM crops are herbicides, as well as increasing considered for approval by the come to better understand numerous. They include the nutrients, yield, and stress Food and Drug Administration allergens, and databases now GMO’s capability to escape tolerance of crops—the most (FDA) are GM salmon which are exist that contain extensive and potentially introduce the important benefit of GM foods capable of growing 30 times information on a myriad of engineered genes into wild is the increased food security faster than natural salmon, allergens, demonstrating a populations, the persistence for growing populations around bananas that are free of viruses benefit that comes with this risk. of the gene after the GMO the world. GM supporters say and worm parasites, cabbage Nonetheless, these examples has been harvested, the that though the initial costs of that is resistant to caterpillar prove that the fear of GM foods susceptibility of non-target creating a GM crop are high due attacks, and sunflowers that causing allergic reactions is from organisms (e.g. insects which to the number of skilled people produce oil with less saturated a sound basis and that no one are not pests) to the gene and expensive equipment it fat—all of which seem to can be absolutely certain that product, the stability of the takes to create a GM crop, the provide an immediate benefit the new organisms created are gene, the reduction in the long run profits from money for human health and the not forming new proteins with spectrum of other plants saved on pesticides and the environment. each successive generation and including loss of biodiversity, resulting high quality product Risks presenting a higher allergen and the increased use of are clear benefits of GM crops. Even with the many benefits threat. chemicals in agriculture. The Herbicide-resistant crops also of GM foods, the amount of Fear of gene transfer is also overall outstanding risk is present the environmental risk involved with introducing prominent in the debate the potential decrease in the benefit of introducing less GM crops into the environment surrounding GM foods. When biodiversity of crops and their harmful chemicals to the land and also into humans. The making new genes, antibiotic associated insects and animals, while providing higher yields. risks have to be viewed in the resistance is coupled with the shifting the forces of natural Crops can be sprayed to kill long-term perspective beyond new genes since gene transfer selection through direct human weeds specifically—leaving the the immediate benefits of the is only successful in a few cells intervention. The arms race that crop itself unaffected—and products like the ones listed and a marker is needed to now exists between natural allowing for less herbicide to above. identify successful transfers. species and the chemicals that be used in one season. The The main concerns about GM The antibiotic resistant cells are we spray upon them hold the herbicides used on GM crops are crops are their tendency to selected for further breeding potential to give rise to newer also weaker than the standard provoke allergic reactions, and the resistance stays with the super-species that we may one herbicide, Atrazine, and are (allergenicity) and also their new gene and is incorporated day lose control of. in this sense better for the potential for gene transfer. into the crop. The fear of Oversight environment. The fear of allergic reaction gene transfer comes from the To maintain the balance Biotechnology companies stems from the idea that every potential of the genes from between benefit and risk of GM are also aiming to create new protein holds the potential to the GM foods to be taken up foods, it is critical that there is crops that can be genetically trigger an allergic reaction. In by bacteria in the gut during enough oversight to keep the modified to be drought- and creating a new gene, companies gestation. The fact that the new risks listed above in check. When salt-tolerant or less reliant on are introducing a new protein gene can and may interact with evaluating the safety of novel fertilizer, which would lead to into an organism, and it is existing genes must be taken GM foods, many precautions are the opening of new areas to be unknown whether or not these seriously. If bacteria carrying taken to assess the safety of the

34 35 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com new proteins. Several criteria responsible for making sure make about using fewer herbi- made the problem worse. need to be met to show that the that the farmers follow through cides on GM crops is accurate or Introducing GM crops into the new food is allergen safe, and with the wishes of the EPA, but not. Recent studies have shown developing world brings about the safety of a particular protein in the case of Starlink Corn, this that for the Roundup Ready a counterintuitive situation in regarding toxicity is assessed assumption was not met. crop, which is resistant to the which the farmers who grow using animal feeding tests. The EPA approved Starlink Corn herbicide Roundup and sup- the crops are starving because Though there are many to be sold only for animal feed posedly requires less herbicide they are not able to buy the precautionary measures in place, since more studies still had to be due to fewer weeds, in fact food that they grow. GM seeds there are many shortcomings done on whether or not the new requires two to nine times more have to be imported into these with these measures, and new crop posed an allergen threat herbicide per acre than conven- developing countries, in addition problems are arising daily. for people. Shortly afterwards, tional strains. Both the GM plant to the pesticides and herbicides In the United States, three an independent watcher took and the Roundup herbicide are designed for the seeds. This main groups are involved in some corn products off of sold by agricultural giant Mon- makes the cost of growing the the oversight of GM foods: the market shelves and tested santo. Of course, some of this crop very high, and rather than Food and Drug Administration for BT toxin and found that increased quantity of herbicide finding a means to lower the (FDA), the Environmental a large number of taco shells has to do with the decrease in cost of food to make it available Protection Agency (EPA) and and other corn products had strength of the Roundup her- for the consumers within the the United States Department Starlight BT toxin in them. After bicide as opposed to Atrazine, country, the farm owners of the of Agriculture (USDA). The FDA investigation, it was shown that which is a harsher chemical. developing world look to sell does voluntary consultation many farmers had never been Even so, many Roundup resis- these crops to the markets in with companies who want to told not to sell the Starlight Corn tant weeds are emerging and in the developed world, like the release new GM foods into the to food mills. The companies effect, farmers have to use more U.S., because consumers will market and acts to work with withheld the information from Atrazine to kill off the resistant pay a higher price for the food. companies to let safer foods the farmers assuming that by strains, resulting in no true en- Conclusions into the market. However, the time that the crop was vironmental benefit of growing With all of the issues since consultation is voluntary, harvested, the crop would be the GM crop. Studies have also surrounding the production of companies are not required to approved. Though Starlight shown that the use of pesticides GM foods, it is now imperative approach the FDA to check their Corn has never been proven for the GM crop is not decreased that we look at GM crops products, and the FDA has no to provoke any allergens, but remains the same. The pesti- with a wary eye and consider way of stopping the release of the events surrounding it cides have been designed to kill the long-term consequences GM foods into the market. In demonstrate the hole in US food off certain pests but not others, of our actions as consumers addition, the FDA does not have security. so farmers have had to use the supporting these crops. Without the power to label, sample, or The USDA carries out field traditional pesticides in addition a pool of consumers who are inspect the food without the tests and acts to make ensure to those designed for the crop. willing to buy GM food products, company’s consent. The FDA that the new crops are not The oversight checks on GM foods would not exist. also views GM foods to be no plant pests that will spread companies are weak and Consumers need to realize that more dangerous than traditional throughout the country. Like inefficient in reducing the risk of they are the ultimate check foods, so the testing standards the EPA, the main problem of GM crops for the environment placed on the companies. for GM foods and traditional the USDA is that there is no and for human health. If there is no profit, there is foods are the same. direct dialogue between the The Developing World no product. With each GM The EPA also works to prevent organization and the farmers Of the many gaping holes in food product that we buy or problems but is unable to who grow the crops. the oversight of GM crops, choose not to buy, consumers do so efficiently. The EPA The largest problem in oversight the most profound failure is are voicing our own opinions regulates crops with pesticide is that of all of these organiza- in checking whether the main about what we think is right or herbicide properties and is tions, none focus on conducting promise of GM crops is being for our own health and for the good at imposing controls on long-term studies so no one kept: are these crops really world. Each individual needs companies regulating chemical really knows what the long term eradicating starvation in the to consider where he or she use. What the EPA fails to do is cumulative effects of GMOs are. developing world? No, they are stands in the debate about GM communicate directly with the There is, therefore, also no over- not. GM crops have not solved crops and take the initiative to farmers who grow the crops. sight in checking whether or not the problem of poverty—and voice his or her opinion with our The companies are supposedly the claims that the companies some may say that they have purchasing power.

36 37 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com New airport terminal puts Shenzhen on the global architecture map By Phyllis Richardson

The new Terminal 3 at Shenzhen effect inside. As the concourse also curves and undulates movement and the idea of is indeed a grand project has three levels, with some rather dramatically inside. It’s pause.” This means that, in for the region. It extends full-height voids, natural light a direct challenge to the usual addition to designing a visually the airport’s capacity to 45 reaches from the top to the airport weariness, and gives the stimulating environment, they million passengers per year bottom floors. There is also a impression of being surrounded focused on the practicalities and creates the largest single grand harmony of design in by an immaculate webbing. of processing times, walking public building to date in an internal details, such as the The architects used the distances, ease of orientation area that is not exactly on the stylized white tree-shaped honeycomb motif not just in and crowding. But these radar of most popular tourist forms (which serve as air- the ceiling but throughout the necessities aside, it’s easy to see destinations. It boasts a three- conditioning vents and check-in building, in the retail “boxes,” an edgy sci-fi film being set in level concourse, and roof spans islands) and the stainless steel and in 3D imprints in the walls and around the sleek, organic of 80 m (262 ft), all of which are gates (at security and check-in), of the public spaces. So the elements. wrapped in a double-layer skin which also bear the honeycomb patterning is ever-present and The client, Shenzhen Airport of brilliant white perforated pattern. the great volumes are not left Group, is said to be so pleased by “honeycomb-shaped” The interior is as gleaming and hollow, but will be animated with the results that it is taking (hexagonal) metal and glass futuristic as the 300,000 sq m continually by light and shadow, steps to try to copyright the panels. (3.2 million sq ft)-façade. White as well as by the thrum of design. Studio Fuksas are These allow natural light to filter conical support columns rise human activity. working on two further phases through, an unusual condition to the roof on a “cathedral- The vast interiors, the architects of development on the airport, for a large airport terminal and like” scale. Adding to its say, emphasize the theme due for completion in 2025 and one that creates a dappled light textural quality, the ceiling of “fluidity … the idea of 2035.

36 37 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com Genetic differences between “identical” twins discovered By Darren Quick Although they only account for sequencing. around three in every thousand The scientists say this provides deliveries, monozygotic, or experimental evidence for “identical” twins are fertile the hypothesis that rare fodder for crime writers and mutations will occur early after cop shows. This isn’t surprising or before the twins originate considering that DNA fingerprint with the splitting of the human testing is not able to genetically blastocyst in two, and that these differentiate between the good mutations will be carried on into and evil twin. But now German- somatic tissue and the germ based company Eurofins MWG line. Operon says it has found a way Eurofins, which is the first to do just that. DNA from sperm samples known as Single Nucleotide company to offer such a test, Scientists from Eurofins, a provided by two identical Polymorphisms(SNPs), in the says it should prove useful in genomic services company twins and a blood sample child and the father, but not forensic and paternity cases specializing in forensics and of the child of one twin. in the twin uncle. This finding involving monozygotic twins. paternity testing, sequenced They found five mutations, was confirmed using Sanger Source: Eurofins

Dubai Smart Government conducts feasibility study on Shared Disaster Recovery Site

Dubai Smart Government (DSG) the issue and gather information Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown faction and trust. He pointed is conducting a feasibility study through site visits and workshops Prince of Dubai and Chairman out that DSG’s current shared for a Shared Disaster Recovery with government partners while of the Executive Council, on Government Resource Plan- Site (SDRS) among 31 Dubai the second phase expected to Dubai Government’s information ning services have proven to be government entities, in compli- be completed by end November security, which is aimed at devis- massive government saving with ance with the recent Dubai Gov- will come up with recommenda- ing an integrated strategy that proven ROI and contribution to ernment Information Security tions for the buy or build model would lead to a unified policy a green sustainable environment Regulation for managing a secure of a Dubai Government Shared for protecting the government’s and economy. We are confident government information security Disaster Recovery Site. These information and information that our feasibility study into environment, ensure business recommendations will include systems and at providing a reli- Government wide SDRS will continuity and contribute to datacentre design, specification, able environment for storing and guide us to similar benefits while the sustainable development of space utilization, use of cloud recovering such information and achieving business continuity and Dubai as a smart city. and shared network infrastruc- information systems based on the sustainability and security of The objectives of the feasibil- ture, ROI, alternative solutions the world’s best practices.” government digital assets.” ity study are to understand and for disaster recovery; with actual Bin Humaidan added: “The Bin Humaidan stated: “The evaluate the current capabilities implementation of the site in the nature of the upcoming stage importance of disaster recovery and needs for SDRS among Dubai first quarter of 2014. which depends on the provi- is further underscored when Government entities and identify H.E Ahmad Bin Humaidan, sion of government services we take into account the rapid pros and cons including imple- Director General of Dubai Smart through smart devices for our developments that have paved mentation, location and opera- Government and Chairman of citizens’ happiness necessitates the way for Dubai to become a tional costs of a Dubai Govern- Dubai Government’s Information us to ensure that these services knowledge-based smart society, ment Shared Disaster Recovery Security Committee, said: “This and our back-end government as well as meet the smart govern- Site. The three month study has step comes in implementation ICT services are safe, protected ment requirements by providing two phases: the first phase which of the decision issued by HH and backed-up with the aim of innovative and secure services began in September was to study Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed gaining our customers’ satis- and applications.

38 39 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com Scientists jump the “air gap” with hidden acoustic networks

By Nick Lavars

It could be assumed that the most effective way to safeguard your computer against the threat of cyber attacks would be to disconnect it from all networks: wireless, LAN, network cards or the internet. However, research from the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics (FKIE) has demonstrated a malware prototype with the ability to jump the “air gap” – meaning even that once surefire security measure might not be enough to ensure the protection of your computer. Computer scientists Michael used to transfer data between between laptops using only option is to switch off audio Hanspach and Michael Goetz smartphones or tablets. inaudible sounds. Despite the input and output devices. conducted an experiment According to the research breakthrough, the technology Failing this, the implementation involving five computers which paper, networks relying on has considerable drawbacks – of audio filtering offers an connected to one another acoustical communication namely a transmission rate of alternative approach whereby using their built-in microphones are seldom used because of 20 bits per second. the specific frequencies used and speakers to form an the much higher bit rates In the past, we have seen by the acoustic network inaudible acoustic network. The and ranges offered by radio similar technology using could be filtered out with a data was able to be transferred transmission. However, as the inaudible sound frequencies bandpass filter (a device that from one computer to another electromagnetic waves used to create an alternative to passes frequencies within a until it reached one with a in radio communication are NFC and to transfer inaudible certain range, and rejects those regular internet connection highly absorbed by sea water, QR codes. However, the outside). that was able to take the signal acoustical networks have network proposed by the The scientists are skeptical that “outside.” proven useful for underwater German scientists is the first to their research demonstrates The scientists selected a near data transmission. establish a data transmission an effective way of spreading ultrasonic frequency range With this knowledge, Hanspach between computers malware at present. However, which saw data communicated and Goetz adapted a system purely through acoustical they are mindful of the between the computers previously developed by the communication. potential dangers “audio within a range of 19.7 m (64.6 Research Department for The scientists also explored botnets” may present in ft), all without a connection Underwater Acoustics and various countermeasures as little as five years, citing to a central access point or Marine Geophysics in Germany against the dangers of critical infrastructure as router. Hanspach says the to form the acoustical network, acoustical covert networks. something that may one day be same technique might also be enabling the data transmission The first (and most obvious) susceptible.

38 39 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com iQi Mobile offers stealthy wireless charging for iPhone

While wireless charging capability charging pad, including the is built into the latest Nexus Koolpuck charger which is being handsets, iPhone users looking bundled with the iQi Mobile to unplug are faced with the offering. prospect of shelling out for a Funds are being raised to bring wireless-ready (and often bulky) the iQi Mobile to market via case like the Powermat series. Indiegogo where the campaign The iQi Mobile looks to slim down has almost quadrupled its the equation with a wireless US$30,000 goal with 18 days still power solution that works with left to run. most iPhone soft cases. The company says early backers As the name suggests, the iQi of the campaign will receive Mobile uses the Qi (pronounced their iQi Mobile perks before “i-chee”) standard and is Christmas. A full retail launch compatible with iPhone 5, 5C, is slated for 2014 with the iQi 5S & iPod Touch (5G). It consists plug for the phone’s Lightning soft case. From there it enables Mobile receiver to be priced at of a 0.5 mm thick, credit-card connector that allows it to be charging at a rate faster than $35 and the receiver/Koolpuck like receiver unit and a flexible squeezed behind a standard USB 2.0 with any Qi compatible charger bundle to cost $85.

Smarty Ring offers connectivity without lifting a finger

By Nick Lavars

Like the idea of technology that wraps around a body part, displays the time and connects to your smartphone? No, we aren’t talking about a smartwatch, but the “Smarty Ring” which may offer an even more subtle way to stay connected. Joining the likes of the Ring Clock, the Genius wireless ring mouse and the NFC Ring in is waterproof and comes in sizes by a wireless charging dock their phone is more than 30 m the functional finger wear ranging from 15.7 mm (0.62 in) with space for two rings and a (98 ft) away from them – even department, the Smarty Ring to 23.8 mm (0.94 in) in diameter. smartphone. when the phone is in silent mode. connects to iOS or Android Buttons on the outer side of The ring is customized through At the time of writing, the Smarty devices (provided they are the ring can be used to accept a smartphone application, which Ring has surpassed its funding Bluetooth 4.0 enabled), allowing or reject incoming calls, control allows users to keep an eye on goal of US$40,000 on Indiegogo, for call notifications, text and music playback and trigger the five different time zones, adjust amassing over $120,000 with the e-mail alerts, along with real time connected phone’s camera. the brightness of the LED display, campaign drawing to a close at updates from Facebook, Twitter, It is powered by a 22 mAh adjust the volume of the ring’s midnight on December 11, 2013. Google Hangout and Skype. battery, which the company beeper, and assign buttons for The company is offering the A 13 mm (0.5 in) wide and 4 mm says will afford it a 24 hour speed dial. It could also prove Smarty Ring for a $175 pledge (0.16 in) thick stainless steel body battery life. To recharge, the useful in preventing theft and with shipping estimated for April forms the band of the ring, which Smarty Ring comes accompanied lost devices, alerting users when 2014.

40 www.experttechnologyreview.com Neurocriminology: The Disease behind the Crime By Olivia Dahl

Introduction dystopia in which the FBI forms neuroscience, it is necessary to female murderer) will undergo In a sample of psychopathic the “Precrime Unit”. The unit examine the ethical implications brain imaging tests to determine subjects drawn from a is devoted to catching would- of allowing neuroscience into their likelihood of succumbing temporary job agency, 52% be killer’s moments before courtrooms. Should a person to violent behavior. The of psychopaths confessed to the crime, using genetically- with a neuroanatomical reputable criminologist suggests having attacked a stranger to engineered savants with visions predisposition for killing that when neuroscience reaches the point of bruising or drawing of the future. While the FBI has receive more or less jail time for the point where it can predict a blood from the stranger, 42% announced no plans of breeding committing murder? Should a person’s penchant for violence admitted to having raped at humans to prevent crime, there brain scan that predicts, with with near certainty, those with least one person, and 38% said is one up-and-coming field a small margin of error, that a neuroanatomical thirst for that they had fired a gun at focused on predicting crime: blood will be sent away from another person. Psychopathy, neurocriminology. mainstream society to some also known as antisocial Neurocriminology concentrates equivalent of a holding facility. personality disorder (APD), is of on studying the brains He suggests that this holding public interest because alarming of criminals, putting the facility need not be a prison. statistics like these indicate that psychopathic brain in the It could instead be considered psychopaths pose a great risk spotlight. The field seeks to more of a highly regulated to the population at large. APD identify those with neurological sleep-away camp for potentially predisposes psychopaths to and genetic predispositions dangerous individuals. This violent behavior, both because for violent behavior and to prediction is alarming for of their categorical inability hopefully engineer a treatment ethical reasons and is strongly to empathize with others and or prevention strategy. While reminiscent of Minority their proclivity for dangerous the field is still burgeoning, Report. Perhaps Raine’s hope thrill-seeking. Psychopaths have genetic and neurological for a future with confined a host of impairments—they evidence is making its way into psychopaths is shaped by his have a stunted ability to forge the courtroom, raising ethical a convicted criminal is likely career devoted to studying cold- close relationships, they are questions about how genetics, to revert to violent crime be blooded killers and rapists. perceived as callous and neurological functioning, and sufficient grounds to prevent It is little wonder that a man manipulative, and they are able child abuse affect a criminal’s a person’s parole? Should who has spent so much time to commit atrocities without responsibility. statistics guide sentencing working with psychopaths remorse. These psychopathic Recent discoveries in and the granting of parole, or hopes for a future without the qualities make it unsurprising neuroscience are relevant to all would such a system deny the more dangerous ones on the that psychopaths constitute a stages of criminal justice. It is possibility of free will? loose. disproportionate percentage increasingly possible to predict Neuroscience of Psychopathy The psychology of people with of prison inmates: while an whether a brain is predisposed Adrian Raine is a leader in APD is chilling; the disorder robs estimated one percent of the to criminal activity, and neurocriminology as well as the afflicted of any rich emotion, general population has APD, it is neuroscience is making steps a professor at the University leaving only the capacity for raw estimated that more than 35% of toward predicting what brain of Pennsylvania and chair of emotions such as fear, anger, prison inmates have APD. activity in criminals’ correlates their criminology department. boredom, and lust. Psychopaths Given the criminal appetite with reoffending. A 2013 study Raine explores genetic, are impulsive and irresponsible, associated with psychopathy, concluded that criminals with environmental, and neurological which often manifests itself in there is incentive to diagnose diminished activity in the factors that play into violent the form of unprotected sexual and monitor the psychopathic anterior cingulated cortex, a criminality in his most recent promiscuity. Psychopathic population in an effort to brain region associated with book, The Anatomy of Violence. irresponsibility is also evidenced prevent crime. Predicting and executive function, were 4.3 In this book, Raine stipulates by their proclivity for a parasitic thereby preventing crime is not times more likely to reoffend that someday all eighteen-year- lifestyle, where they use their a new topic. The movie Minority while on parole. With the old men (men because there are superficial charm to manipulate Report is about a futuristic increasingly predictive power of nine male murderers for every others into funding their needs

41 www.experttechnologyreview.com and whims. exhibit, indicating that they are One irony of this disorder is unperturbed when graphically that those with APD are often presented with another gifted at reading the emotions person’s physical pain. of others while incapable Feeling another person’s pain of experiencing those same may seem like a lofty behavior, emotions themselves. The but there is neurological psychopathic paucity of emotion evidence that this might be can prove advantageous in fundamentally important many arenas. Businessmen who in development. The mirror have no reservations about neuron system (MNS) is a laying off thousands of workers, circuit of neurons found in politicians who feel no twinge of monkeys that activates both guilt making duplicitous deals— when an individual performs a these are just two examples of specific action, such as making arenas in which a conscience a fist, and when that individual can be considered a hindrance. sees another person perform Psychopathy relegates people that same specific action. The to a mechanical existence existence of the MNS suggests wherein they consider the that “perceiving similarity emotions of others as no more between self and others” is than a bargaining chip to be so adaptive that our neurons played when advantageous. and the PFC are critical to this experiencing the feelings… force us to feel what others The “successful psychopath” learning process. A lab rat with of others,” and this ability are doing, at least to some is one who escapes detection, a lesioned (surgically removed) is fundamentally lacking in degree. The MNS is believed to using charm to win people amygdala completely loses the psychopaths. One simple test of play a role even in such critical over, all the while satiating his ability to learn the associations empathy measures sympathetic milestones as learning language. or her craving for stimulation in fear conditioning. The PFC skin conductance response One theory of language in a variety of ways, sometimes is involved in fear conditioning (SCR) while subjects are shows acquisition suggests that mirror escalating to killing. in a more subtle way, working a variety of stimuli. The SCR is neurons propel babies to There are two notable by inhibiting the socially an electrophysiological indicator mimic the movements of their neuroanatomical structures unacceptable impulses that of a person’s arousal that parents’ mouths, expediting that are deviant in psychopathic have been associated with measures how much the person their understanding of the brains—the prefrontal cortex discomfort. People with APD is sweating. The SCR test can relationship between different (PFC) and the amygdala. The have been found to have an be used to measure a person’s labiodental configurations PFC is responsible for executive amygdala that is up to 18% distress in response to different and phonemes. While control, namely inhibition smaller than normal, and types of photos, including there is currently very little of inappropriate impulses, studies have found that the relaxing photos of nature and literature addressing language while the amygdala is critically psychopathic PFC has a 11% more disturbing photos, like a development in those with APD, important in fear conditioning. reduction in grey matter. These person’s hand getting caught the theory that psychopaths Fear conditioning is tested in findings point to the theory that in a closing door. The greater have a dysfunctional MNS is lab animals by exposing an APD is a neurodevelopmental a person’s SCR, the greater popular and under investigation. animal to an unpleasant or disorder that interferes with a that person’s distress. The SCR Between SCR tests, fMRIs scans, painful situation. The animal person’s ability to experience should be low for emotionally and other behavioral measures, is successfully conditioned if it and learn from negative neutral scenes, but it should be there are many different ways then fears the place in which it experiences, specifically elevated when, for example, a of diagnosing psychopathy. experienced the discomfort or negative social feedback. person sees photos of a needle Now the question becomes: any associated stimuli. Raine and his colleagues going into someone’s hand. how can psychopaths who are Fear conditioning is a simplified speculate, “Poor conditioning When psychopaths take this likely to commit acts of violence version of what happens when is theorized to be associated test, they exhibit very little be preempted? And in this new people socialize – children learn with poor development of the change in SCR between the two age of neuroscience, how will to avoid a social faux pas by conscience.” types of photos. They retain neurological aberrations be associating social misconduct The Merriam-Webster Dictionary a low resting heart rate and a treated in the courtroom? While with discomfort. The amygdala defines empathy as “vicariously low SCR throughout the photo it is difficult to speculate about

42 43 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com how neuroscience will integrate about the criminal mind, a revo- into law in twenty years, there lution in criminal law might be are two recent court cases on the horizon. One company from the past five years that offers lie detection services represent two different roads called “No Lie MRI,” and while that neurolaw can take. that technology has not been al- Neuroscience in Court lowed in court to date, there are A schoolteacher went to the serious questions to consider. emergency room complaining If it becomes possible to put that he had a nearly irresist- a murder suspect in an MRI, ible urge to rap his landlady. behavior for a while, but when and yet the defendant’s ask him if he is the killer, and Doctors were suspicious – this the patient relapsed into hyper- ethnicity was not tested. Not determine based on the scan’s was a man who was scheduled sexuality, he discovered that his only the methodology behind results whether he is lying or go on trial the very next day for tumor had reappeared. After the defense’s explanation of not, is that a violation of the molesting his young stepdaugh- the second surgery to remove genetic predisposition, but also American right to plead the ter, and this resembled a ploy to the tumor, the patient’s libido the wisdom of promulgating fifth amendment? Will murder escape trial. While the doctors returned to socially acceptable defense strategies based on suspects have a right to protect deliberated over how to deal levels and his wife allowed him “genetic determinism”. The themselves from brain scans? with the man they suspected to move back in with her. defendant, who confessed to The roles of insanity and was faking symptoms, the pa- This appears to be a cut and murdering someone over an remorse in the death penalty are tient propositioned the nurses dry case of a tumor driving a insult, was relieved of one year additional factors to consider. publicly and shamelessly in the man to criminal conduct, and of his sentence on the grounds In a 2002 court case, Atkins v. waiting room. Doctors noticed the results of the defendant’s that his genes predisposed him Virginia, the Supreme Court that the patient walked with MRI were clearly important to react to stressful situations ruled that an insane person a stiff gait and neglected to to his defense. But consider with violence. could not be put to death. When notice objects in his left field of another court case that hinged More Questions to Consider a psychopath is found guilty vision. This was not a ruse; the on genetic testing, tried in 2007 The two cases described above of murder, should he or she unnatural gait and hemispatial in Italy. Abdelmalek Bayout seem different. In one, a tumor be able to plead insanity and neglect were sufficient grounds murdered Walter Perez in a transformed a previously model thus escape the death penalty? to order an MRI, which brought bar brawl because Perez had citizen into a child molester. When a defendant can persuade to light an egg-sized tumor that insulted Bayout’s kohl makeup. In another, the results of a the judge of his or her genuine the patient had developed. Bayout confessed to his crime, genetic test relieved a murderer remorse, the judge is legally The tumor was pressing on the one that would typically have of one year of his sentence. urged to spare that person patient’s prefrontal cortex, the resulted in a sentence of about Bayout will be released one of the death penalty. Since part of the brain associated with twelve years in prison. Bayout’s year earlier than he would psychopaths are inherently inhibition, which explained why lawyer, however, negotiated be if he were not a carrier of incapable of remorse, should the patient could not put a lid a significantly lighter sentence the Warrior Gene, and he will they go through an adjusted on his vivid and violent sexual because genetic tests showed still have a proclivity towards sentencing process? These are fantasies. that Bayout carried five genes violence when released, if we just some of the questions we The discovery of this man’s tu- that correlated with violent are to believe that genes so must consider as neuroscience mor revolutionized his defense. behavior. One of the genes that closely determine so complex generates more and more Yes, he had made sexual advanc- Bayout carried, monoamine a behavior as violence. If one information. es on his stepdaughter, who oxidase (MAO-A), has come of these defenses seems more References was just a child. But this was a to be known as “The Warrior acceptable than the other, what 1. A. Raine, Reduced Prefrontal man who had no prior criminal Gene,” because expression exactly is the difference? Gray Matter Volume and Reduced record, who had experienced no of this gene is correlated It is difficult to map out what Autonomic Activity in Antisocial pedophilic urges prior to devel- with elevated levels of types of neurological tests or Personality Disorder (2000). Arch oping this tumor. Once doctors aggression and violence. The genetic predispositions belong Gen Psychiatry. removed his tumor, the patient association between this gene in a courtroom, and it is then 2. A., Raine, The Anatomy of abruptly lost all pedophilic urges and aggression is still poorly even more difficult to determine Violence (Random House LLC, and was profoundly ashamed understood – the correlation how such data should affect 2013). of his tumorous conduct. The between MAO-A and aggression a verdict. With neuroscience 3. E. Lerner, Can Science Predict surgery corrected this man’s varies between ethnic groups, discovering increasingly more Criminal Behavior? (2011).

42 43 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com Top 10 green concept cars of 2013 By: Merritt Losert

As we wind down toward the end of another year, it’s time to take a look back at some of the innovations that helped make 2013 a big year for green car technology. Highly anticipated cars like the Porsche 918 Spyder and Cadillac ELR made their debuts, while green concept cars provided a peek at what the future holds. Our favorite eco-friendly concepts from the past 12 months rethink power technologies, aerodynamics and architecture to push fuel economies into the triple digits.

Peugeot Hybrid Air VW CrossBlue Coupe

The CrossBlue Coupe made several appearances throughout the year, leading folks to speculate that Volkswagen is serious One of the earliest green concepts of 2013, the Peugeot Hybrid about ushering it to the market. The plug-in hybrid concept Air was also one of the most interesting. Putting a different seamlessly combines fuel economy, SUV utility and zippy spin on hybrid technology, the powetrain uses a long, tubular performance. compressed air tank in place of batteries for energy storage. Volkswagen’s latest specs give the CrossBlue Coupe – which That air tank powers a hydraulic motor-pump, which assists a really abuses the term “coupe” – 13 miles (21 km) of all-electric gas engine in three modes: zero-emissions, air-powered driving, driving from two motors. When those motors team with the hybrid, and engine-only. The motor-pump recovers air energy turbo V6 engine, they put out 415 horses, which inspire a 5.8- during braking and deceleration, refilling the air tank. The second 0-60 mph (96.5 km/h) time. VW estimates that the French automaker estimates that the powertrain is capable of powertrain is capable of around 70 mpg-e and up to 570 miles 2.9 l/100 km (81 mpg) and CO2 emissions of around 69 g/km. (917 km/h) of range. In addition to detailing the layout of the powertrain in January, The CrossBlue is based on Volkswagen’s new Modular Peugeot Citroën revealed the Hybrid Air-powered Citroën Transverse Matrix and could be outfitted with various six- Cactus concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. It and four-cylinder engines, including diesel and compressed plans to bring the technology out of its research facilities and natural gas options. We won’t be surprised if we hear a lot into B-segment production cars by 2016. more about the concept in 2014.

The Elio The Elio from Louisiana start-up Elio Motors doesn’t use any type of alternative power. Instead, it uses a unique design and a small, fuel-sipping three-cylinder engine to get up to 84 mpg (2.8 l/100 km). That combination also powers the narrow three-wheeler to a respectable top speed of more than 100 mph (161 km/h) and a range of up to 672 total miles (1,081 km). As a three-wheeled vehicle, the Elio faces some regulatory hurdles before it’s available for regular use. Elio has had success in getting some US states to recognize it as a separate class of vehicle, but others apply motorcycle regulations to three-wheeled vehicles. Elio is working with the intent of launching the car in the fourth quarter of 2014 and is still quoting a price under US$7,000.

44 45 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com VIA Motors XTRUX Maybe it’s just that we’ve come to expect hybrids to come in compact and subcompact packages, but it was nice to see something completely different at the 2013 North American International Auto Show. That something was the VIA Motors XTRUX, a large GM pickup truck with a range-extending 4WD power train. Instead of replacing the pickup truck’s V8 engine, Utah’s VIA Motors puts it to work as a gas-fueled range extender. Driving the wheels are two 402-hp electric motors. The XTRUX has the power and capability of a big, burley truck, the instant torque of an electric, and the range of a gas truck. VIA says that it can get up to 40 miles (64 km) of all-electric driving and average 100 mpg-e. The XTRUX’s fate remains unclear, but VIA launched other range-extending pickup trucks and vans last month. Those models use a single 402-hp motor along with a V8 engine purposed as a range-extending generator.

Yaris Hybrid R Buick Riviera

During the course of the year, GM gave Cadillac Volt-like plug-in Toyota’s Yaris Hybrid R concept is a stretch of the term hybrid technology in Detroit and showed what a future Buick “green,” but it is an interesting look at how hybrid technology plug-in might look like in Shanghai. While the Riviera concept, can turn a car as mundane as the Yaris into a quick, aggressive and its glacial-blue lighting and white-leather cockpit, was track car. The Toyota Yaris Hybrid R debuted at the Frankfurt clearly built as a showpiece only, the technological ideas it Motor Show equipped with trickled-down racing technology. presents may just underpin future models. Those ideas include Instead of the usual lithium battery pack, the hybrid hot hatch a wireless plug-in hybrid system with a chassis-integrated has a super capacitor to power its two rear-mounted 60-hp recharge panel, integrated 4G connectivity and car-to-car electric motors. The motors assist the 300-hp turbo four- communications. cylinder engine in delivering quick, lively AWD acceleration, and Outside of those basic details, Buick was rather vague about the driver controls their output with a dual-mode track/road the Riviera’s equipment, focusing more on its design language. system. The hybrid system can also alter torque to the rear The concept car might influence future styling and technology, wheels, providing enhanced cornering and control. but we don’t anticipate it showing up as a Buick model.

Daihatsu FC Deco Deck Fuel cells climbed out of the shadows a little during the year, with several major manufacturers preparing for the next generation of fuel cell technology. Daihatsu showed one of the most interesting fuel cell concepts in the form of the FC Deco Deck from Tokyo. Daihatsu’s liquid fuel cell eliminates the platinum used in other fuel cells, saving money and resources. It’s compact enough to slide under the floor, adding space and flexibility. The FC Deco Deck uses big visuals to advertise its big technology: a cubed cabin with wraparound-glass is planted atop a rectangular trailer chassis.

44 45 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com Toyota i-Road Part tandem, three-wheeled car, part enclosed trike, the Toyota i-Road is all innovation. Toyota debuted the vehicle at the Geneva Motor Show, solving the naming dilemma with the simple term “Personal Mobility Vehicle.” The design offers a narrow footprint and maneuverability comparable to a two- wheeler, with a safer, more comfortable, more weatherproof driving experience. It’s powered by dual 2.7-hp front-wheel electric motors. We came out of Geneva thinking the i-Road was a crazy concept that might never be seen again, but Toyota said that it plans to build a limited number of i-Roads for use in its Harmonious Mobility Network trials in Toyota City, Japan beginning early next year.

Mitsubishi Concept GR-HEV From its sleek, modernized pickup car form to its diesel- hybrid powertrain, the Mitsubishi Concept GR-HEV is a future look that we want to drive right now. The Geneva-debuted concept is powered by a 2.5-liter diesel engine and electric motors, which work with a full-time 4WD system. Mitsubishi claims that the concept puffs out just 149 g/km while cruising from city to worksite. Mitsubishi didn’t say whether or not Geneva was a stop on the way toward GR-HEV production, but the concept was one of several hybrid and electric concepts that Mitsubishi showed in Geneva and Tokyo, so we anticipate more electric power in its future line-up.

Nissan BladeGlider One of the most intriguing concepts of 2013 from every angle, the Nissan BladeGlider re-teaches everything we thought we learned about car design. Nissan’s design team wiped the slate clean and drew influence from aircraft and racers like the ZEOD RC to design a new type of street car. That car is a rolling triangle with a 1-m (3.3-ft) front track and widened rear track, a platform that delivers superior aerodynamic performance and increased maneuverability. The car’s unique shape and CFRP construction allow the RWD, in-wheel electric powertrain to deliver an efficient but exhilarating ride. During its Tokyo debut, the BladeGlider’s future seemed optimistic. Nissan used language like “when BladeGlider matures into a production car” and “exploratory prototype of an upcoming production vehicle.” Later in the month, however, the design became the subject of a lawsuit filed by Nissan’s DeltaWing partner Delta Wing Project 56, throwing its future in doubt.

46 47 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com Who invented Google? By: Tom Harris

Google’s headquarters is located which, although growing in the of Internet pages meant more over the code to Amit Singhal, in Mountainview, Calif., but it mid-1990s, was still little more links and greater resolution in who had come to the company might as well be Mount Olympus than a curiosity. Page decided determining what was relevant from AT&T Labs only a year given the company’s wild to focus his attention on the and what wasn’t. They decided before. Singhal rewrote the success and seemingly unending link structure of the Web. Was to change the name of BackRub algorithm so that the Google acquisition spree. The Google it possible, he wondered, to use to something that better search engine could incorporate search engine, which handled 70 links between Web pages to rank reflected the massive scale additional ranking criteria more percent of all online requests at their relative importance? And, if of their project. They settled easily. Could this be considered the time we wrote this, is just the this was indeed possible, could on Google, after “googol,” a reinvention? Perhaps, but if tip of a rapidly expanding empire. he develop an algorithm -- a set the term used to describe the that’s the case, then the Google Over the years, Google has of mathematical rules -- to count number 1 followed by 100 zeros. search engine is being reinvented introduced a suite of innovative and qualify every back link on the Although the Google brand name constantly. For example, in 2007, applications and services, Web? the company introduced univer- ranging from Gmail and Google By 1996, Page was knee-deep in sal search -- the ability to get links Apps to AdWords and AdSense. the project, but the complexity to any medium on the same re- The company also has ventured of the math proved challeng- sults page. All told, Google owns into the smartphone fray (and ing. He reached out to Brin, the hundreds of patents related to is no doubt hatching new plans outspoken grad student who the mathematical processes as we write). No wonder the first introduced Page to the used to generate more effective company’s stock consistently Stanford campus. Brin began search results. sells for $600 a share or higher working with Page to further Then there’s the non-search- on the Nasdaq exchange. refine and develop the math, so engine side of Google -- things What’s astounding is not the that links pointing to a site could like Gmail, AdWords, AdSense level of success the company be ranked according to impor- and Google Voice. These innova- has achieved, but the timeline in tance. They named the resulting tions come from Google’s team which it has done it. IBM history algorithm PageRank and then of engineers. Not all of their dates back to 1911, Microsoft and inserted it into BackRub, a search might be interesting or even in- ideas pan out, but a few, like Apple to the mid-1970s. Google engine that started crawling the novative, it’s the PageRank algo- Google News, the brainchild of doesn’t have to look back nearly Web, beginning with Stanford’s rithm that forms the company’s Google Chief Scientist Krishna so far. All things Google began in home page and working outward foundation. On Jan. 9, 1998, Page Bharat, are home runs. 1995. That’s when Sergey Brin, a from there, across the 10 million and Brin filed for a patent with So, when thinking about the 21-year-old student at Stanford online pages that existed at the the U.S. Patent and Trademark invention of Google, it’s helpful University, took University of time. Office. Patent number 6,285,999, to consider a two-part answer. Michigan graduate Larry Page, Partners in PageRank: Page, Brin “Method for node ranking in The inventor of the Google just a year older, on a tour of and Stanford a linked database,” lists Larry search engine was Larry Page, the campus. Legend has it that A year after incorporating the Page as the inventor and the with a key assist by Sergey the two disliked each other and algorithm into BackRub, the two assignee as Stanford University. Brin. But the multifaceted, bickered the entire tour. But it students knew they were onto What does that mean? It means multinational company we know must not have been a complete something big. The search results Stanford actually owns the pat- today is the product of a team disaster because Page enrolled they were getting from BackRub ent for the page-ranking process of brilliant engineers. Of course, in Stanford and began working were far superior to results being -- Page and Brin license the use of every idea eventually must make to fulfill the requirements of produced by existing search the PageRank algorithm in their it past Page and Brin, the geek his Ph.D. program in computer engines, in their opinion. Not commercial endeavor. gods who have built one of the sciences. only that, Page and Brin realized Not that the algorithm has most successful technology Page considered several topics that as the Web grew, their remained unchanged since brands -- and one of the most for his doctoral thesis but finally results would only get better those heady days of the dot-com compelling mythologies – in the settled on the World Wide Web, -- because a growing number frenzy. In 2001, Google turned history of business.

46 47 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com Tobii Lets You Control a Tablet With Your Eyes By: Christina Warren - Pete Pachal

Tobii’s eye-tracking There are icons for normal PC to the Start screen quickly. looking at is cut off on the technology can make using functions — left click, right Tobii lets you tweak the right side by the menu. It a PC slightly more “natural,” click, scroll, etc. and the menu precision/delay settings for would be great if the screen reading your eye movements is fully customizable. To do the zoom and overlay, so as could just shrink slightly to, say, scroll without something, just look at it and users get better at using the horizontally, giving a complete needing to move a mouse. the icon lights up; then move EyeMobile, the device can (if slightly smaller) Windows But for the disabled, it can be your eyes to the screen and keep up with them. 8 experience. Perhaps that’ll revelatory, allowing people you’ll see the area where I got a chance to try out the be possible with Windows 8.1, with disabilities to use virtually you’re looking zoom in for a EyeMobile on a Surface Pro, which provides more screen all the abilities of a computer second, so you know exactly and was impressed beyond flexibility. without ever touching it. where you’re “clicking.” what I’ve seen with previous Unfortunately, the EyeMobile The Tobii EyeMobile brings “The big puzzle piece the versions of Tobii’s eye control. isn’t cheap, costing $3,900 complete eye control to EyeMobile unlocks is eye Like any new interface for the sensor and $395 for Windows tablets. It’s an control of Windows 8 (hello, Leap Motion), it takes the bracket (which fits tablets oblong-shaped sensor called gestures” getting used to, but with some from 7 to about 13 inches). the PCEye Go that attaches The big puzzle piece the concentration and accurate Worse, insurance companies underneath the tablet via a EyeMobile unlocks is eye calibration — it’s very precise. tend not to cover devices like bracket. Once it’s in place and control of Windows 8 However, that could be this since they don’t deem the eye-tracking software is gestures. To perform them, because it was the first time I them essential for a disabled installed, all the user needs you simply look at the used a Tobii device without my person to function. to do is calibrate the sensor “overlay” icon on the side, glasses (I wore contacts). But considering how (which takes about a minute) and a screen appears that lets One thing that bothered important it is today for and it’s eyeball-ready. you do things like call up the me a little: I’d prefer if the anyone to be able to interact Users will see an eye-control Charms menu (which moves EyeMobile nav didn’t mask with the digital realm, that’s nav along the side, similar the device’s nav to the other anything on the screen — probably a policy that needs to Windows 8’s Charms menu. side), see active apps or return right now content you’re rethinking.

48 49 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com Producing Fuel from Mutated Microbes By: Merritt Losert

With the world’s energy needs Choi and Lee were able to substances into the necessary be an important point in the rising and the remaining stores modify chemical reactions to short-chain alkanes. They added advancement of renewable of fossil fuels being depleted, produce the molecules present DNA to encode for new or energy. Their final bacterial sustainable energy is becoming in gasoline. enhanced versions of proteins strain produced up to 580.8 mg/L increasingly important. Some The molecules in gasoline essential in this pathway and of short-chain alkanes. While estimates suggest that oil consist mostly of short-chain removed DNA that encoded this may not be enough to run a reserves mined at current rates alkanes. An alkane is a molecule for proteins destructive to this car, the development is certainly will last about 40 years before made of hydrogen and carbon pathway. an important step toward the running dry. Yet, nonrenewable and formed into chains; the A pathway is simply a string of large-scale manufacturing of fossil fuels make up a large “short” in short-chain means the chemical reactions. The short- such biofuels. And this technique majority of energy consumption molecules are between 4 and 12 chain alkanes are not produced has potential. According to the and infrastructure. Scientists carbon atoms long. in one step; rather, a series of researchers, the fuel made is have searched for renewable Choi and Lee changed a very steps is needed to transform similar to the gasoline currently sources of such fuels, many specific set of genes in the the initial ingredients in the cell used and, in fact, is superior to using mutated bacteria as small bacteria. By adding mutant to the desired products. The many other biofuels in use, and energy factories. Although diesel genes and subtracting others molecules begin as sugars, and its energy content is 30% higher fuel can be produced through from a type of E. coli that already various proteins add or remove than ethanol’s. In fact, if these bacteria, a process for gasoline makes certain fat-molecules, chunks of these ingredients to biofuel improvements continue, production using bacteria has Choi and Lee created a pathway make the products, like gasoline. the future of energy could lie in just recently been found. As which modifies these fatty Choi and Lee’s innovation could billions of tiny microbes. reported by researchers Jun Choi and Sang Yup Lee of the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have recently discovered a technique for producing gasoline using the common bacterium E. coli. The process Choi and Lee created to make these bacteria is complex, but it takes advantage of one important concept: DNA mutation. By changing the sequence of the DNA, they can alter cellular processes and chemical reactions and, in turn, produce gasoline. Specifically, DNA contains information which encodes the structures of other large molecules called proteins. Among the many jobs of a protein is to facilitate chemical reactions in the cell by either pulling apart or pushing together smaller molecules. By manipulating these proteins,

48 49 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com Honda bounces around idea of smartphone case with airbags

By Brian Dodson

There are any number of cases promising to protect a smartphone from drops, bumps and scrapes, but an idea floated by Honda in a video promoting its new line of small cars adds airbags to the list of potential smartphone protection options. Honda isn’t really making a smartphone case, of course; the video at the end of this article is a fictional story about an inventor who is inspired by the new Honda Motors N line of small cars to solve the problem of fragile smartphones using airbags. While the video is part mechanism, the inflation valve require replacement airbags. is dropped screen down onto a of a clever advertising campaign, is opened electrically, releasing Like everything else, the pointy object, and the danger of the smartphone airbag case gas from a CO2 cartridge into Smartphone Case N concept tripping while having the case – although impractical in its the airbags, which are then fully has pros and cons. On the pro (or a smaller version thereof) current form – is real. inflated within 0.2 seconds. side, it does appear to perform in your pocket. This may be a The guts of the Smartphone When it hits the ground, it its basic function effectively, concept that isn’t quite ready for Case N are exposed in the photo bounces around gently for a in that the smartphone in the prime time. above. There are a series of six moment, then rests unharmed video survives. Arguing against But will it get there someday? small airbags placed around on the airbags. The airbags the case is the enormous size, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos thinks the edges of the smartphone, remain inflated at this point, the probable high cost of the highly enough of the basic idea which are deployed when however, it is unclear if they can case, the probable high cost of that he patented it for Amazon, the case perceives it is being be deflated and repacked, or if resetting the airbags after use, with Greg Hart as co-inventor. dropped. In the rear of the each smartphone rescue would the lack of protection if a phone The Amazon patent, filed in case is a computer-controlled February 2010, covers just about accelerometer that keeps track any method you might think of of the level of peril to which the for protecting a fragile thing smartphone is subjected at any from drops, including reorienting given moment. the thing while it falls, so that it Judging by the video, the lands on a less-fragile part, and computer is looking for using air jets to seriously slow something like an extended the rate of fall. period of free-fall, as when the If size and cost can be case is dropped, the airbags controlled, together with the deploy after about 3 ft (90 cm) danger level for accidental of falling. (Note to self: Do activation, some such method not take this case along when for protecting smartphones and skydiving.) tablets may well appear on the Once the computer triggers the market. Someday.

50 51 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com Google Pushes out its Next Round of Glass Invites By: Samantha Murphy Kelly

Google has invited another round of developers to purchase Google Glass, which is not yet on the market. According to Engadget, some developers who previously expressed interest in the high-tech eyewear are now receiving invitations to become a part of the company’s Explorer program. The move comes on the heels of Google rolling out a preview of its SDK and opening up Mirror API to developers, giving anyone who wants to create apps for the ... someday. Well, today’s inviting you, as a developer, is $1,500. Google has not high-tech specs the opportunity the day,” the email read. to purchase Glass, become an confirmed when Glass will hit to do so. “The sneak peek of the Glass Explorer and join us in taking the consumer market, but “When you asked us how to get Developer Kit (GDK) is available the next step in developing for inviting more developers to Glass on this site, we told you now, making it possible to Glass.” the program indicates that it there would be more chances build new and innovative The cost to “begin your is ready to move forward with to join the Explorer Program kinds of Glassware. We’re now adventures with Glass” ramping up its app offerings.

Apple Buys Twitter Analytics Company Topsy By: Christina Warren

Apple has acquired the social purchases of startups, such of PrimeSense, the company implementing those sensors in media analytics startup Topsy. as HopStop and Locationary, responsible for the original 3D future products. The acquisition was first there isn’t a clear product sensor in the first Xbox Kinect. With Topsy, the purpose is less reported by The Wall Street application. But at least with PrimeSense, clear. The Journal posits that it Journal, which says the deal The same could be said for it stands to reason that could be useful for iTunes Radio was worth more than $200 Apple’s acquisition last month Apple would be interested in — a product that already has million. direct integration with Twitter Topsy is one of the few services Music — or its flailing iAd that have access to Twitter’s product. Still, the purpose of data firehose. It offers users a acquiring an analytics firm that way to analyze tweets, gather is so focused on one specific sentiment and measure the social network is, in a word, reach of a campaign, hashtag odd. or message. In September, An Apple spokesperson has the company rolled out the not responded to our request ability to search Twitter’s entire for comment but told that archive. “Apple buys smaller technology Topsy is an interesting companies from time to time, acquisition for Apple and we generally do not discuss because unlike its past our purpose or plans.”

50 51 www.experttechnologyreview.com www.experttechnologyreview.com Perceiving Time By Eric Tao

A graphical notion of the the direction of the original a function of the number of otherwise behaves identically to expansion of the universe. The singularity. simulation steps taken. an infinite universe. Perturbation arrow of time points in the These very different definitions Interestingly, if Schulman experiments provide a method direction away from a singularity. of time were not connected until introduces a perturbation to distinguish the possibilities by Image source: NASA the 20th century cosmologist mapping— a transformation calculating how long it takes a The nature of time is a hard Thomas Gold conjectured that that is not part of the normal system to return to equilibrium. thing to define because one the expansion of the universe transition— the effects of In an experiment with timescales perceives it as an inescapable enabled continued progression the perturbation always tend that are comparable to the fact: tomorrow always comes. of entropic disordering without towards the middle of the life of the universe, noticeable But will there ever be a day in reaching thermal equilibrium. time-steps. This occurs even deviations indicate that the which tomorrow does not come? He did not definitively reconcile if the perturbation action was universe has a finite lifespan. What is the nature of the end of the definitions, but brought up performed after the time the A philosophical problem can also time? In addition, could there be a good point that these notions position represents in the be considered. Isaac Asimov, people who live in “backwards” of time should be connected in iterated simulation. This is the famed science fiction writer, time? Can one talk to them? some way. important because it would be theorized about talking with Professor Lawrence S. Schulman of Clarkson University discussed these topics with Expert Technology Review. Traditionally, time is defined in two different contexts: the expansion of the universe and entropy. Entropy measures how many different arrangements of a system are possible. Given a room full of boxes and a handful of balls, how many different ways could one put the balls in the boxes? It is obvious that having all of the balls in one box is relatively unlikely, compared to having the balls scattered among all the boxes. This is the essence of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics: entropy tends During his talk, Schulman uses impossible to find out if someone backwards-time people. In his to increase over time because a fairly simple system to model were traveling “forward” or scenario, communication in there are many more ways for a time. He takes a set of points “backwards” in time without the form of messages might be disordered state to occur than in a square and makes them go comparing two opposite possible, but never meaningful the single-box state. to a new point relative to their systems. conversation. The nature of One may also compare this to the positions. He then repeats this Schulman’s contrived system time is interesting, not merely cosmological definition of time, process a set number of times. provides some insight on what on a scientific level, but also at in the sense of the expanding The set of points is filtered to should happen if the universe the philosophical level Asimov’s universe. As far as mankind contain only points that start ends. Comparing mappings theory represents. After all, the knows, the universe started within a narrow region and with different end times, we vantage point from which we from an infinitely small point and end in another narrow region, see an interesting pattern. If perceive time, at different points expanded to what we see today. representing a universe that the universe ends, then we in Schulman’s model or from So in a sense, time proceeds in starts and ends in tiny states. would not be able to realize various disciplines of analysis, the direction of the expanding Then, he measures the entropy this fact until at least half of affects our conclusions about universe and not towards associated with the system as its total age has passed, as it time’s nature.

52 www.experttechnologyreview.com A Universal Look at Space Programs

By: Shawn (Yifei) Xie

to direct the responsibility of low orbital launches to the private sector as it refocuses its attention toward developing a space transportation vehicle capable of sending astronauts deeper into space than man has ever gone before. Origins of Space Programs The conclusion of World War II marked the beginning of a new era in global conflict: the Cold War. For decades, this enormous political and ideological rivalry remained the world’s predomi- nant source of tension and alarm. The United States and the Soviet Union each sought to prove the superiority of its own scientific achievements, athletic potential, military might, and, by extension, social-political system. Amidst this all-out competition, space exploration emerged as the new arena for both superpowers to demonstrate their respective technological supremacy and guard themselves against rising nuclear threat. The Space Age Friday September 21st, 2012 space exploration. exploration. The proliferation of Though theories involving space was an exciting day for many Introduction these space programs has shed travel had been proposed since Californian aerospace enthusi- Although space programs light on many of the mysteries the beginning of the twentieth asts. Camera-holding fans could originated as part of the bitter of the universe, but as more century, the Space Age officially be spotted atop buildings and Cold War technological rivalry of these programs catch up to began when the Soviet Union bridges, trying to get a glimpse between the Soviet Union and one another in terms of space successfully launched the first of the space shuttle Endeavour in United States, the roles of these faring capabilities, the United unmanned satellite Sputnik 1 into mid-flight. The shuttle, perched programs have expanded far States again faces significant orbit on October 4, 1957. The on top of a Boeing 747, left Ed- beyond political demonstrations competition as it strives to Sputnik mission sparked a fierce wards Air Force Base early morn- of military and technological reorient its goals and stay ahead “Space Race” that defined one ing en route to its permanent prowess. Dozens of space of international competition. of the focal points of the Cold resting place at the California Sci- agencies have sprung up across The recent retirement of its War and served as the primary ence Center. Endeavor’s last ride the globe since the conclusion space shuttle fleet and President motivation for the creation of the heralded the end of the Space of the Space Race, and each has Obama’s cancellation of the United States’ own space agency Shuttle Age, as well as NASA’s come to pursue its own agenda Bush-approved Constellation NASA—the National Aeronautics shift toward a new direction in in aerospace research and cosmic Program have forced NASA and Space Administration.

53 www.experttechnologyreview.com After the Soviet Union and spacecrafts—Voyager 1 and become more sophisticated and through the decades. the United States success- Voyager 2—to explore the outer universal. Most notable of these Meanwhile, NASA and the ESA’s fully launched their first manned solar system, as well as the developments occurred in 2003, unmanned exploration programs spacecrafts—Vostok 1 and Free- first Mars probes that marked when the Chinese succeeded in have enjoyed tremendous suc- dom 7, respectively—into space the beginning of a series of independently attaining manned cess over the past decade. Two in 1961, the competing nations unmanned rover missions to the spaceflight capability, making it of the four Mars rovers launched turned their attention toward red planet. NASA’s introduction the third nation to do so besides since 2004 continue to transmit landing the first man on the of the space shuttle in 1981 Russia and the U.S. Motivated exciting data back to Earth. In moon. NASA began a series of revolutionized space travel, by the strategic advantages particular, the rover Curiosity, manned Apollo missions begin- allowing astronauts to glide of developing advanced space which touched down on the Gale ning in October 11, 1968, and the back to Earth on reusable space technology, newcomers such as Crater in 2012, found clay-rich Soviets followed suit with devel- vehicles instead of enduring South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, samples and oxidized carbon opment of the impressive, albeit dramatic splash-downs upon Brazil and the Philippines have compounds in the mudrock of flawed, N1 rocket. The competi- reentry. Until its retirement also introduced government- an ancient Martian lakebed, tion culminated with Apollo 11’s in 2011, the shuttle fleet sent sponsored space agencies and confirming the existence of a successful touchdown on the American astronauts on a wide set their own goals in space wet, life-supporting environment lunar surface in July 1969. range of research experiments exploration. This recent growth in the planet’s distant past. On With the success of the U.S. and maintenance projects, in space activity within the the other hand, the European lunar missions and the easing including satellite repair, resupply international community is space probe Huygens success- of U.S.-Soviet tensions during missions to the International distinct from the rivalry of the fully landed on Saturn’s largest the 1970s, both of the nations’ Space Station, and the orbital 1960s between Russia and the natural satellite, Titan, reveal- space programs lost much of the launch of the Hubble Space United States. While the Cold ing for the first time an exotic support and motivation to carry Telescope in 1990. War Space Race pitted the lunar surface once unobservable out further ambitious projects. By end of the Space Race, a twentieth century’s two greatest due to the moon’s thick, brown Nixon rejected NASA’s visions for number of nations around the superpowers against one atmosphere. the development of lunar orbit world also initiated their own another in a relentless struggle NASA: Future Plans stations and Mars landings by the space-faring agencies and to reach the moon, this modern In response to the Space Shuttle 1980s, while the Soviets resigned developed satellite-launching Space Age is a multi-national Columbia disaster in 2003, the themselves to their loss follow- capabilities. While states in marathon where each nation Bush Administration introduced ing four failed lunar launches Europe collectively established is free to set its own pace and a new NASA program called the between 1969 and 1972. a shared European Space strive toward individual goals. Constellation Project. Constel- After the Space Race Agency (ESA), countries in End of the Shuttle Age and New lation oversaw the construction While the two nations continued Asia were far less cooperative. Discoveries of a fresh lineup of space launch to use their respective space China, Japan, and India each While the international commu- vehicles designed to be safer programs for military purposes, pursued independent goals nity experiences renewed inter- and have longer range than the increasing emphasis was and largely built their own est and accelerated progress in agency’s previous forms of space placed on less aggressive programs, ushering in a new space exploration, NASA is also in transportation. It focused on goals, such as research and rivalry that many perceive as the midst of a dramatic shift in its the development of two main mutual cooperation. The U.S. a regional analog to the U.S.- present missions. The esteemed pieces of space technology: the and Russia launched their first Soviet Space Race. For these U.S. shuttle fleet that sent Ameri- Ares rockets and the Orion crew space stations in 1973 and nations, spaceflight capability can astronauts on dozens of low capsule; these new spacecrafts 1971, respectively, with the served and continues to serve Earth orbital missions for the would succeed the shuttles as stated purpose of conducting as an extension of their efforts past thirty years finally retired fol- the next generation of vehicles scientific experiments. Crews to increase national influence lowing Atlantis’s final touchdown carrying astronauts to Earth or- from the two nations met for and prestige while checking at the Kennedy Space Center in bits and eventually onto manned the first time in orbit as part of the powers of neighboring July 2011. The four orbiters now missions to extraterrestrial bod- the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project competitors. reside in museums of California, ies. With the new designs, Bush in 1975, paving the way for A Second “Space Age” Florida, New York, and Virginia, expected NASA to resume lunar further international missions As more countries, mostly in Asia serving as a testament to Amer- missions by 2020. and the eventual creation of and the Americas, join the ranks ica’s enormous achievements in Seven years later, however, the an International Space Station. of existing space powers, foreign aerospace technology over the Obama administration canceled Shortly afterwards, the U.S. rocket launch programs and last half century, as well as the the Constellation Project in light also launched two research space exploration missions have challenges and tragedies it faced of an independent commission

54 www.experttechnologyreview.com report headed by former its focus to the development of significant international extension of the Cold War, aerospace executive Norman low-cost, deep-space exploration competition. China, India, space programs have grown Augustine. The Augustine panel vehicles, which would allow Russia, and private spaceflight to signify much more. Already, concluded that the project for a manned asteroid mission firms outside the United States space-faring agencies around had fallen significantly behind followed by an expedition have all set similar deadlines the world operate hundreds schedule and, under present to Mars. Funding has been for the developing deep-space of satellites, spacecrafts, and conditions, proved to be redirected toward designing a exploration technology and scientific instruments that financially unrealistic. As a result, modified version of the Orion time frames for launching their have vastly improved human rather than focusing on a second project which, in conjunction respective extraterrestrial communications, demonstrated lunar landing, the president with the agency’s new proposal expeditions. mankind’s innovations in encouraged NASA to transfer the to create a universal launch Aside from garnering national technology, and unveiled responsibility of supply missions vehicle called the Space Launch prestige and laying down the numerous mysteries of the and manned low Earth orbit System (SLS), aims to send foundation for more advanced cosmos. Their future missions operations to private American astronauts beyond low Earth space missions, these nations and goals create boundless spaceflight firms. However, until orbit by 2021. and corporations are also potential for scientific and the private sector manages to Obama hopes these shifts in captivated by the promise of societal achievements in the develop the capacity to do so, NASA’s priorities will allow extractable rare materials and next several decades. As more America will rely on Russian astronauts to travel beyond the the potential for economic nations set their sight on space Soyuz spacecrafts to help carry range of the phased-out space profit. Researchers theorize that as the final frontier, the capacity its crew and cargo. shuttle sooner than would be available precious minerals and for international collaboration Though Constellation is no longer permitted by Constellation’s Helium-3 isotopes on the lunar in scientific development an active program, NASA’s prior schedule. surface, for example, could lead remains high and, the future plans to realize long-range International Potential to highly profitable gains and can, quite literally, be considered interplanetary expeditions have American interest in once energy production. an exercise in looking toward remained intact. Under President again attaining long-distance Conclusion infinity and beyond. Obama, the space agency shifted spaceflight ability faces Despite their origins as an

Omantel conducts SME Award’s road shows across the Sultanate

Omantel – the pioneer inte- boosting the SME sector and entrepreneurship culture among tunity to network with other grated communication services recognizing the rising stars and the different sectors of our industry members and peers. In provider in the Sultanate – held entrepreneurs. society especially the SME sector addition to comprehensive pack- several workshops for small and Commenting on this, Ali Bakhit which is considered the back- age that includes one year of medium enterprises to spread Kashoob, Senior Manager Prod- bone of our national economy free exposure through newspa- awareness about the 2nd Edition uct Development at Omantel and a key driver to growth”, he per advertisements & hoardings, of the Omantel Business Excel- Business Unit said “We have added. free Public Relations support for lence SME Awards. been keen on meeting with Omantel Business Excellence a period of one year in addition A team from Omantel Busi- subscribers and advising them SME Awards will be presented to advertising support through ness Unit has visited Muscat of the details of the competi- in 5 categories, namely, Best free bulk SMS to help promote and Sohar as part of schedule tion. We explained to them the Performing Company - Small the winners businesses. Winners to meet small and medium en- main aims and objectives of the Enterprises, Best Performing will also be provided with a free terprises. During the meetings, competition including recogniz- Company - Medium Enterprise, short film production about the team received a number ing the success made by shining Best New Entrant, Turnaround their business, two smartphones of applications to take part at entrepreneurs who managed Success Story of the Year and for every winner and two free the competition and answered to have a toehold at the market Community Contribution. month subscription in any of queries regarding the Business despite the tough competition.” ‘Winners of the Omantel Busi- the Company’s fixed or mobile Awards.. The Omantel Business ‘The main aim behind this initia- ness Excellence SME Awards will services provided to corporates” Excellence SME Awards aims at tive by Omantel is to promote an be provided with the oppor- He added.

53 www.experttechnologyreview.com Key Steps to boost your soybean yield

By: Irfan Ahmed Nadeem

The first thing to know about He says that over time, the use maximizing soybean yields is that of fungicide seed treatments in the two biggest profit makers Ohio will increase yield three to are planting date and row eight bushels per acre depending spacing. That probably doesn’t on soil drainage, crop rotation, surprise many farmers. But there variety selection, and other are a few facts to keep in mind in factors. thinking about how to increase He says the take home message yields and profits. from the study is that fungicide Ohio State University Extension seed treatments are very agronomist Jim Beuerlein effective tools for improving shared the following facts in a plant stands and root system recent edition of the C.O.R.N. health. “Seed treatment When applying a fungicide or The practice of inoculating fields Newsletter: fungicides should always be using fungicide treated seed, that have been out of soybeans Yield potential starts to decrease used on soybeans, regardless of be sure the fungicide has dried for more than three to five years in early May most years and by variety, crop rotation, soil type, before applying inoculation may still be a good insurance late May is just over a half bushel planting date, or tillage,” he says. material to the seed. Inoculation practice due to the inexpensive per acre per day. As for inoculation, he says products may be mixed with nature of the inoculant. Last A five day delay in planting the most producers can expect some fungicides and applied to year’s data was inconclusive last week of May will reduce yield increases of three to eight the seed together. Be sure to as to whether any of the new income by $30 per acre if bushels per acre depending on check labels for compatibility. inoculants will consistently soybean is worth $10 per bushel. soil characteristics and yield Work is underway to develop provide a higher yield in a corn- Switching to narrow rows will potential. According to results formulations of fungicides that soybean rotation.” also increase yield and profit. of Beuerlein’s Ohio Soybean can be premixed with inoculation Pederson’s current On light colored soil, the row Inoculation Study: He says ten materials and applied together. recommendations for Iowa are spacing should be as narrow as years of soybean inoculation More inoculation advice to inoculate the seed if: possible regardless of planting evaluation consisting of 66 field Palle Pederson from ISU The field has never been planted date. On dark colored soil, row trials and over 7000 research offers an information sheet to soybean. spacings should no wider than 15 plots indicate that inoculating about inoculation with advice Soybeans have not been grown inches in May and as narrow as soybeans is a very profitable about how to know whether in the field in the past three to possible for June plantings. Yield practice. you need to inoculate your five years. increases about one-third bushel The average yield increase fields. It includes the results of The soil pH is below 6.0. per acre as the row spacing is over ten years has returned a inoculation trials in Iowa. The The soil has a high sand content. decreased from 30 inches to 7 profit of over 300 percent. For Iowa researchers’ conclusion is The field has been flooded for inches. most inoculation products, a this: more than a week, creating What if you are already planting yield increase of half a bushel “The decision on whether or not anaerobic conditions. early in narrow rows? Beuerlein per acre is profitable and yield to inoculate is still dependent See the results of the Iowa says there are two other very increases of 2 to 7 bu/acre have on whether the site has a recent inoculation trials: profitable practices: fungicide been common. Since 1995 the history of healthy-looking The first thing to know about seed treatments and inoculation. inoculation of soybean seed in soybeans. Iowa has a good maximizing soybean yields is that Fungicide seed treatments will Ohio has increased from a few population of B. japonicum in the two biggest profit makers ward off infection of the root rot thousand acres to over two most soils, if soybean has been are planting date and row diseases for two to three weeks million acres. The primary reason grown in recent years in the spacing. That probably doesn’t allowing plants to get a head for the rapid increase in use field. Because most cultivated surprise many farmers. But there start on diseases and be better of inoculation materials is that fields include a rotation with are a few facts to keep in mind in able to ward off the yield loss over time their use has been soybean, the need to inoculate thinking about how to increase caused by disease. profitable. with more bacteria rarely exists. yields and profits.

56 www.experttechnologyreview.com Biodegradable Plastic: Its Promises and Consequences By Kristen Flint

Living “green” has become a down, interest in biodegradable algae, and fungi use extracellular less expensive alternative popular trend in the last twenty plastics research decreased once enzymes to depolymerize, to pure PHAs. Blends also years, and reducing oil consump- more. In the 1990s, the research or break down, PHAs and, degrade better than PHAs tion remains an important goal again became popular, this time through a process known as without renewable materials. for the sustainably-minded today. in the biomedical industry. Be- mineralization, absorb the When PHAs are blended One of the top uses of crude oil tween medical applications and remaining fragments for use as with hydrophilic polymers, is the production of plastics. In fluctuating oil prices, research minerals. Manufacturers can more water can penetrate 2010, 191 million barrels of liquid in biodegradable plastics has alter the properties of PHAs the plastic and increase the petroleum gases and natural become steady and profitable. by changing their structure efficiency of degradation. The gas liquids were used to make So far, researchers have invented or composition. PHAs have a sole caveat to using blends is plastic products in the United several different types of plastics variety of applications in water- that when creating the blends, States. These plastics later end and a variety of manufacturing resistant surfaces, binders, manufacturers must mix the up in landfills, where they take methods. synthetic paper, medical biodegradable substance years to break down. Petroleum- Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) devices, electronic parts, food with the renewable sources based plastics are becoming PHB is a type of packaging, and agriculture. thoroughly to avoid having small more expensive as oil prices starch or cellulose particles continue to increase, and plastic that interrupt the plastic’s accumulation in landfills takes biodegradation and harm the up valuable space and threatens environment. the environment. The economic Synthesis of PHA with Plants and ecological drawbacks of Production costs are major petroleum-based plastics have impediments to the marketability pushed researchers to develop of biodegradable plastics. and investigate biodegradable Researchers have experimented plastics as an environmentally- with various methods of friendly alternative. production, but one of the During the 1920s, Maurice most promising techniques is Lemoigne, a French researcher, cultivating PHAs in transgenic discovered the first biodegrad- polyhydroxyalkanoate, or However, PHAs currently have plants. Synthesizing PHAs able plastic from his work with PHA. PHAs are biodegradable economic drawbacks that limit through bacterial fermentation the bacterium Bacillus mega- thermoplastics that are their use. Until recently, PHAs costs five times as much as terium. Lemoigne isolated synthesized by many different have had high production the production of petroleum- poly-3-hydroxybuturate (PHB), types of bacteria. When bacteria costs, low yields, and limited based plastics because of low but his work went unnoticed develop in nutrient-deficient availability. Consequently, they yields per bacterium. By using for many years. Decades later, environments, bacteria create have not been able to displace transgenic plants to produce microbiologists in the United PHAs as food and energy the petroleum-based plastics PHAs, net yields increase at a States and Great Britain indepen- reserves, which are then stored that manufacturers can cheaply lower cost. The plants can grow dently discovered PHB in 1957 as insoluble granules in the create in bulk. PHAs by redirecting cytoplasmic and 1958, respectively. However, cytoplasm. Depending on their One method of reducing the acetyl-CoA present in the plant research into biodegradable molecular composition, PHAs cost of production is to create to produce PHB. However, plastics slowed until the oil crisis have varying physical properties, a polymer blend of PHAs with redirecting cytoplasmic acetyl- of the 1970s. As nations faced but all PHAs biodegrade in renewable materials, such as CoA stunts plant growth and the reality of rising oil prices, carbon dioxide and wate. PHAs starch or cellulose, a technique negatively affects yield of both they encouraged research for can degrade in either aerobic that requires a smaller amount PHB and the plant itself. To avoid synthesizing alternatives to or anaerobic environments of PHA per unit. The blends still this side effect, researchers have petroleum-based products. through thermal degradation or have properties that are easy instead targeted PHB production However, when the oil crisis died enzymatic hydrolysis. Bacteria, to modify, providing a viable, to specific areas of the plant with

57 www.experttechnologyreview.com existing high levels of acetyl- and lower production costs. for biodegradable plastic waste is researchers can estimate the CoA, such as chloroplasts. When In 2010, 191 million barrels of incineration with energy capture, emissions released during the synthesized in this manner, PHB liquid petroleum gases and so that the energy that goes into production and disposal of yields make up 15% of the plant’s natural gas liquids were used producing the plastic could be a biodegradable substance dry weight, dramatically lowering to make plastic products in the reclaimed during decomposi- and compare the figures to the cost of production. United States tion. However, incineration of the estimated emissions for Polylactide (PLA) Environmental Effects biodegradable plastics does not producing and disposing Another popular biodegradable Researchers have worked on de- create any more energy than petroleum-based substances. plastic is polylactide, or PLA. veloping biodegradable plastics petroleum-based plastics, so the The substance with lower PLA is a synthetic polyester with the hopes of bettering the environmental effects of the two overall estimated emissions is that biodegrades within a year, environment, but the produc- are roughly equivalent. The third considered to be “better” for the decaying much faster than tion methods and applications of option is landfilling biodegrad- environment. In their study, Levis conventional petroleum-based biodegradable plastics could still able plastics. However, when and Barlaz used a hypothetical plastics. The creation of PLA be detrimental to environmental biodegradable plastics decom- biodegradable polymer involves bacterial fermentation, and human health. The waste pose, they produce methane gas, and found that petroleum- similar to the fermentation management infrastructure a major contributor to global based polymers may have a in the synthesis of PHAs. This currently recycles regular plastic warming. While methane gas less negative impact on the fermentation creates lactic waste, incinerates it, or places it could be collected and used as an environment than biodegradable acid, which is then polymerized. in a landfill. Mixing biodegradable energy source, capturing that en- plastics. Manufacturers use PLA because plastics into the regular waste in- ergy would be another expense, Conclusion its method of synthesis is more frastructure poses some dangers and some of the gas would still Biodegradable plastics of- economical than the synthesis to the environment. Biodegrad- escape. Thus, the biodegrad- fer a promising alternative to of other biodegradable plastics. able plastics behave differently able nature of these plastics petroleum-based plastics. While Scientists can already produce when recycled, and have the poses economic and ecological petroleum-based products use oil lactic acid inexpensively, so potential to negatively influence problems in the current waste in their manufacturing and take the cost of producing PLA is to human health. To be effec- management infrastructure. up space in landfills, biodegrad- less than the cost of producing tive in food packaging, plastics To assess the environmental able plastics can be synthesized PHAs. Furthermore, PLA is must exhibit gas permeability, costs and benefits of in bacteria or plants and have biocompatible and can be utilized chemical resistance, and tensile biodegradable waste, James the potential to be disposed of in biomedical applications, such strength. If the food packag- Levis and Morton Barlaz, in a way that is less damaging as in medical plates and screws ing materials are recycled, their researchers at the Department to the environment. Biodegrad- that can be degraded and physical properties could change, of Civil, Construction, and able plastics have a variety of absorbed by the body. However, applications, from agriculture PLA exhibits several physical and food packaging to biomedi- and mechanical properties cal devices and tableware. The that make it more difficult major obstacles to replacing to use than PHAs or other petroleum-based plastics with plastic options for applications biodegradable plastics are high outside of biomedicine. PLA is costs and low yields associated brittle, thermally unstable, and with existing methods of biode- hydrophobic. PLA degrades gradable plastic production. With by hydrolysis with no need for more research into plant-based external enzymes, but creates manufacturing systems, these a large build-up of lactic acid obstacles are being overcome. during degradation, which can Finally, the last obstacle to cause problems in biomedical allowing degraded chemical com- Environmental Engineering at surmount is the proper disposal applications. Like PHAs, PLA pounds and external contami- North Carolina State University, of biodegradable plastics. In has a variety of physical and nants to enter the food. On top developed an equation for the order for biodegradable plastics mechanical properties that of that, plastics contaminated “global warming potential” to be effectively disposed of, can be changed by altering its with food are difficult to recycle, of waste. Their equation the current waste management chemical structure and molecular and blended plastics sometimes considers landfill construction, infrastructure must change, or weight. Manufacturers can leave behind starch residues that operations, cover placement, gas methods with less economic and also blend PLA with renewable can further contaminate the re- management, maintenance, and environmental costs must be polymers to alter its properties cycling process. Another option monitoring. With this equation, developed..

58 www.experttechnologyreview.com EU biofuel reform in trouble

By Dave Keating

Attempts by the European hands of a new group of MEPs. emissions than the fossil fuels Commission proposed that Commission to rein in the use Nusa Urbancic, a campaigner they are supposed to replace,” only half of this (5%) could be of so-called “first generation” with green transport group she said. “Better alternatives met by traditional biofuel, with biofuel that may be causing T&E, attacked the ministers’ exist, but they will not have a the other half coming from indirect land-use change (ILUC) stance. “Instead of recognising chance with the current Council new second-generation biofuel and food shortages look likely their mistake and phasing out proposal.” that does not cause ILUC. The to be seriously weakened. the backing for harmful biofuel, The 2009 renewable energy Parliament wants to raise this On 13 December, environment European governments choose directive dictates that 10% of to 6%. ministers are set to adopt a to keep throwing public support transport fuel must come from But MEPs also voted to position – agreed in advance by behind biofuels that cause more biofuel by 2020. Last year the strengthen the proposal by a working group on Tuesday (19 adding binding ILUC ratings November) – that would largely in the fuel-quality directive maintain the European Union from 2020, discouraging fuel policy, established by a law suppliers from using biofuel passed in 2009, of encouraging that causes ILUC. The Council’s this biofuel. position would raise the cap to MEPs voted to strengthen 7% and scrap the ILUC factors the Commission’s proposal to altogether. restrict EU support for biofuel in Lobbying from the industry a vote in September. But centre- producing traditional biofuel right MEPs stopped rapporteur has been intense. They say Corrinne LePage entering into the science around ILUC is negotiations with the European too unclear to be governed by Council on the changes, and laws and that a policy U-turn this decision was confirmed now would kill their fledgling by a vote in the Parliament’s business, which was built on the environment committee last promise of EU support. month. Automotive and fuel companies This will send the discussions have been pushing for greater into a ‘second reading’ regulatory certainty and are procedure, assuming the wary of a delay to the next ministers vote as expected next Parliament. A report published month. The Parliament will on 26 November, commissioned have four months to amend, by a coalition of companies approve or reject the member including Daimler, Shell and states’ position. If MEPs opt to Volkswagen argued for a clear maintain their original stance, policy framework to 2030. the subject will then go into “There is urgent need for conciliation – a process that specifications for new biofuel will surely last longer than the blends, for policy to promote term of the current Parliament, high-quality advanced biofuels which ends in April 2014. MEPs and compatible vehicles, and would have to choose between a framework that addresses accepting the Council’s position biofuel sustainability issues,” or risking the revision to EU said Ausilio Bauen, author of the biofuel rules fall apart in the report.

59 www.experttechnologyreview.com