2007-11-29

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071127-verizon-opens-up-will-support-any-device-any-app-on-its-network.html

"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," appears to be Verizon Wireless' new
motto as it today announced an impressive "open access" plan for its
network that will go into effect next year. Any application can run on
any device from any developer and will have full access to Verizon
spectrum, so long as it can properly connect to the network. Google,
can you hear us now?

In a conference call this morning, Verizon's top brass insisted that
the news had nothing to do with political pressure or with the upcoming
700MHz spectrum auction (which will require some winners to abide by
such open access rules). However, they also made clear that Verizon's
open solution will be in place in 2008, not in 2011 (when the new
700MHz spectrum owner could conceivably start bringing a new network
online).


Here's how it will work: early next year, the company will publish the
technical standards needed to connect to the Verizon network. It will
also host a conference with device developers to learn more about their
needs and to help with any problems that arise. Verizon has also
dropped another $20 million into its certification lab, and any device
maker who wants to connect to Verizon's network will first need to be
certified for proper network connectivity procedures. Nothing else will
be checked.



All applications, operating systems, and runtime environments are
supported so long as the devices connect properly to Verizon's CDMA
network (they can make use of either the company's cellular and PCS
bandwidth). The fee for certification of devices will be "surprisingly
reasonable," we're told, and the program will be open to anyone. One
Verizon exec went so far as to say that if someone builds a device in
their basement on a breadboard, Verizon will test it and activate it.
Smaller players will definitely be able to get in on the action,
something that hasn't previously been possible.




Powered by ScribeFire.

2007-11-19

OrderFetch™ Shipping Sorter

Kiva
OrderFetch quickly directs the right orders to the right location
at the right time, installs for a fraction of the cost of
existing sortation systems, and provides dramatically higher
operational flexibility.

Features


“Pull” Material Flow
Using OrderFetch, the shipping department sets the agenda
for the building, allowing you to pull work from picking and
reserve as needed for specific trucks.

Real-Time Truck Loading – Because
every order is mobile, it moves only when required and to
the right place. The dock door opens, the orders arrive, and
the truck leaves, reducing variability in truck loading times.
items in parallel, eliminating system bottlenecks caused by
a single point of failure.


Mobile Infrastructure – All Kiva equipment
is mobile and modular, making it easy to expand or reconfigure
the shipping area. Unlike conveyor-based sorters, output can
be expanded without disrupting operations.


Integration – OrderFetch integrates
seamlessly with Kiva ItemFetch™ split-case picking and
Kiva CaseFetch™ pallet-moving systems, creating one
seamless operation in the building.



Powered by ScribeFire.

Missing Black Hole Report: Hundreds Found!

PASADENA, Calif. - Astronomers have unmasked hundreds of black holes
hiding deep inside dusty galaxies billions of light-years away.


The massive, growing black holes, discovered by NASA's Spitzer and
Chandra space telescopes, represent a large fraction of a long-sought
missing population. Their discovery implies there were hundreds of
millions of additional black holes growing in our young universe, more
than doubling the total amount known at that distance.

Active supermassive black holes (circled in blue)"Active, supermassive black holes were everywhere in the early
universe," said Mark Dickinson of the National Optical Astronomy
Observatory in Tucson, Ariz. "We had seen the tip of the iceberg before
in our search for these objects. Now, we can see the iceberg itself."
Dickinson is a co-author of two new papers appearing in the Nov. 10
issue of the Astrophysical Journal. Emanuele Daddi of the Commissariat
a l'Energie Atomique in France led the research.

The findings are also the first direct evidence that most, if not all,
massive galaxies in the distant universe spent their youths building
monstrous black holes at their cores.


For decades, a large population of active black holes has been
considered missing. These highly energetic structures belong to a class
of black holes called quasars. A quasar consists of a doughnut-shaped
cloud of gas and dust that surrounds and feeds a budding supermassive
black hole. As the gas and dust are devoured by the black hole, they
heat up and shoot out X-rays. Those X-rays can be detected as a general
glow in space, but often the quasars themselves can't be seen directly
because dust and gas blocks them from our view.


"We knew from other studies from about 30 years ago that there
must be more quasars in the universe, but we didn't know where to find
them until now," said Daddi.
Artist concept of a growing black hole



Powered by ScribeFire.