Airbnb launches dedicated portal for business travelers

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/28/airbnb-for-business-travelers/

It's not that business travelers have chosen to shun Airbnb -- in fact they make up a decent chunk of the short-term subletting business. But now the startup is making a concerted effort to lure those customers in with Business Travel on Airbnb. It's dedicated portal with tools specifically designed not just for travelers, but for companies to manage employee travel. The company has even partnered with Concur, which builds travel and expense systems like Triplink, which is used by a vast majority of Fortune 100 companies. Not every listing will be displayed through the new portal. Odd ball listings like tree houses will be filtered out, as will any shared rentals -- such as a room in a larger apartment. Courting business customers is going to be essential for Airbnb to continue to grow. And considering how much money investors have pumped into the it, growth is certainly high on its list of priorities.

Filed under: Internet

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Via: CNET

Source: Airbnb

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âNVIDIA found a way to quadruple display performance in low-res LCDs

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/28/nvidia-LCDs/

Face it, the tech industry is obsessed with resolution; we want every display to be high definition, regardless of size. We also want our devices to be affordable, leaving device manufactures with an interesting problem: how do they manufacture low-cost products with high-resolution screens? NVIDIA researchers have one solution -- stack two low-resolution panels on top of each other to increase pixel density on the cheap. The solution is so simple it sounds ridiculous, but apparently, it works.

Researchers disassembled two 1,280 x 800 LCD panels and rebuilt them into a single display with slightly offset pixels, a filter to weed out polarization conflicts and a bit of customized software to force the display components to work in tandem. NVIDIA calls the resulting prototype a "cascaded display," and in tests it has quadrupled the spatial resolution of the original panels (thanks, in part, to how the pixel offset crams an additional four pixels behind every one of the first panel's visible pixel).

The images produced by the cascaded display aren't quite as good as the full resolution target image, but it's leaps and bounds ahead of the capabilities of the original 1,280 x 800 panels. It's also a comparatively inexpensive way to build higher resolutions screens for head mounted displays like the Oculus Rift. These hobbled together panels aren't perfect, of course -- the cascaded display is less bright than a typical screen and apparently has poor viewing angles -- but the research could lead to a better way to build affordable, high definition electronics. Check out the video below to see the technology in action.

Filed under: Displays, NVIDIA

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Via: ExtremeTech

Source: NVIDIA

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Amazon Just Opened A 3D Printed Products Store To Bring You Countless Customization Options

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-opens-3d-printed-products-store-2014-7

Dying to customize some cufflinks?

Amazon just launched a new store for 3D printed products, which has over 200 listings that can be customized by material, color, style, text, or size.

The marketplace includes jewelry, toys, iPhone cases, home-goods, personalized bobble heads, and, yes, cufflinks, among other things. 

Amazon isn't actually printing anything itself, but merely connecting consumers with companies that specialize in 3D printing, like Mixee Labs, Sculpteo, and 3DLT. 

Price-wise, there's quite a range: You can get a small, metal T-Rex head for nearly $200, but a 3D bobble-head designed to look like you will only set you back $30. 

"The online customer shopping experience will be redefined through 3D printing," Clément Moreau, CEO and co-founder of Sculpteo, said in Amazon's press release. "With 3D printing, a customer’s wants are no longer limited to what is in stock but instead by what they can imagine."

Amazon's new store closely follows eBay's efforts at breaking into the 3D printed space. The company launched the eBay Exact app in early July, but it only offered roughly 20 products to customize. 

SEE ALSO: 9 Easy Tips For Finding Exactly What You Want On Google

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Build Your Own Voice Controlled TV Unit with an Android Phone

Source: http://lifehacker.com/build-your-own-voice-controlled-tv-unit-with-an-android-1611103727

Taking a little time to be a couch potato is sometimes just what the doctor ordered. If you want to maximize your laziness, this DIY setup from Jayvis Vineet Gonsalves lets you control your TV with your beautiful voice.

Gonsalves calls his project "Aergia," which is the name of the Greek goddes of laziness and sloth—fitting. With Aergia, you can control your TV, set top box, stereo, or any other device that uses an IR remote. All you need is an Arduino Uno, a Bluetooth module, some IR receivers, and a few other electronic parts. If you have an Android device, it only costs you $20 to build, requires minimal electronics knowledge, and just a little skill with a soldering iron.

Using your Android touch screen device you can power the TV on and off, change the channel, navigate menu settings, turn the volume up or down, and it has 12 additional buttons you can program for whatever you like. The best button of all, though: the speech recognition button. Tap that button and you can control the whole setup with your voice. For a list of parts, thorough instructions, and more information regarding voice commands, check the link below. Happy channel surfing!

Aergia: Android controlled TV Remote (with Speech Recognition) | Instructables

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Next-generation lithium cells will double your phone's battery life

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/27/lithium-anode-battery/

The lithium ion batteries in your mobile devices are inherently limited by the "ion" part of their name; they can safely use lithium only in the part of the cell that supplies ions, wasting a lot of potential energy. It's good news, then, that researchers at Stanford have developed a new lithium battery that could last for much, much longer. The technique allows for denser, more efficient lithium in the battery's anode (which discharges electrons) by using a nanoscopic carbon shield that keeps the unstable chemical in check -- uncontrolled, it can quickly shorten the device's lifespan.

The result is a power pack that lasts considerably longer on charge, won't decay quickly and remains relatively safe. Stanford's Steven Chu (the former US Secretary of Energy) reckons that a cellphone equipped with these advanced lithium cells could have two to three times the battery life, and automakers could build cheap electric cars that still offer a healthy driving range. There's more engineering work required before you see any shipping products, but it's entirely possible that future portable gadgets will run for more than a day on a charge without resorting to giant battery packs.

Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops, Tablets, Science

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Via: Phys.org

Source: Nature

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