In conversation with Epic Games' Mark Rein: Unreal Engine 4 support for Oculus Rift (and everything else), and thoughts on next-gen

Epic Games isn't just offering up its ubiquitous current-gen game creation tool Unreal Engine 3 to Oculus Rift developers, but also its next-gen tool, Unreal Engine 4. Epic Games VP Mark Rein told Engadget as much during an interview at this year's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, repeatedly stating he's "super bullish" on the Rift, all the while rocking an Oculus pin on his exhibitor lanyard. "Oh, for sure," he said when we asked about UE4 support for the Rift. "We're working on that now." The Rift dev kit was demoed at CES 2013 running Unreal Engine 3's "Epic Citadel" demo, and Epic's offered support to the Oculus folks since early on, making the UE4 news not a huge surprise, but welcome nonetheless.

The next-gen game engine was being shown off at GDC 2013 with a flashy new demo (seen below the break), as well as a version of its "Elemental" demo running on a PlayStation 4 dev kit (shrouded behind a curtain, of course). Rein was visibly excited about that as well, unable to contain random vocal outbursts during the presentation. "It's a war out there, and we sell bullets and bandaids," he jokingly told us in an interview the following day. The quote comes from coworker and Epic VP of business development Jay Wilbur, and it's fitting -- Epic only makes a handful of games, and the company's real money comes from game engine licensees. In so many words, the more platforms that Unreal Engine variants can go, the better for Epic (as well as for engine licensees, of course). "It's a good place to be -- we try to support everything we can. We have to place some timed bets on things that we feel are gonna be the most important to licensees, and also to us where we're taking games. But because the engine is portable -- it's written in C++ -- a licensee can take and do whatever they want," he said.

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals, Software, HD

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/29/mark-rein-interview-gdc-2013/

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Ailing Boston Mayor Menino won't seek re-election

BOSTON (AP) ? Boston's longest-serving mayor, Thomas Menino, won't seek re-election for a sixth term amid ongoing health problems.

A person with direct knowledge of his decision told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Menino planned to announce he wouldn't be seeking re-election. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly.

Menino's spokeswoman would say only that the mayor planned an announcement for Thursday.

The 70-year-old Democrat was re-elected to a fifth four-year term in 2009. He has recently faced a series of health problems but has remained popular with voters.

Menino was hospitalized for eight weeks in the fall after a respiratory infection and a blood clot that was complicated by a spinal fracture and diabetes.

He told reporters in November that he had no plans to retire but deflected questions about whether he would seek another term.

Menino's decision is expected to trigger a political scramble to replace him as a new generation of political figures eye the mayor's office.

Menino already has one challenger, City Councilor John Connolly, who declared his mayoral bid last month. Menino had been considered a heavy favorite to win re-election.

As recently as January, Menino delivered an upbeat assessment of the city during his annual state of the city address.

Menino used a cane to walk to the podium and spoke vigorously about his plans for Boston. At the time, Menino gave no indication on whether he'd decided to seek a sixth term this year.

"Our progress is real. Our future is bright. The state of our city is striking, sound and strong," he said in prepared remarks that cited progress on economic development and crime reduction.

As recently as Tuesday, Menino appeared at a rally at Boston City Hall plaza to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

Menino became acting mayor after his predecessor, Raymond Flynn, left office in 1993 after being named ambassador to the Vatican.

The city's previous longest serving mayor, the late Kevin White, was in office for four terms, from 1968 to 1983.

During his years in office, Menino also became a vigorous national voice in favor of stricter gun control measures.

He co-founded Mayors Against Illegal Guns with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and criticized the National Rifle Association's call for more armed guards at schools after the Connecticut school shooting in December.

"That is crazy," Menino said. "Every victim of gun violence and their families knows that's crazy."

Last year, Menino also played a crucial role in helping elect U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, campaigning with her at stops across the city.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ailing-boston-mayor-menino-wont-seek-election-030949491.html

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The $99 OUYA Console Will Make Its Retail Debut In The US, UK And Canada On June 4

Didn't get a chance to back the ambitious OUYA?Android game console to lock in your pre-order? Considering how much press the thing has gotten, you don't have much excuse for missing that particular window, but never fear -- OUYA?intends to sell the $99 pint-sized gaming gadget through retail partners like Amazon, Gamestop, and Best Buy starting on June 4.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/8g_jizEtxe0/

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New York City appeals ?soda ban? ruling

The sale of 20-ounce sodas would've been limited under the Bloomberg-backed ban (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

NEW YORK?City officials are asking an appeals court judge to reinstate a ban on the sale of large sugary drinks, arguing it is crucial to stopping a ?serious health crisis? linked to obesity.

The ban, championed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, was struck down March 11?less than 24 hours before it was set to take effect?by state Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling, who argued that the new regulation was undermined by loopholes. Tingling noted, among other things, an exemption that would have allowed state-regulated stores like 7-11 to continue selling large sodas.

Tingling also argued that Bloomberg and the city?s Board of Health had overstepped their authority by not first putting the ban to a vote in the New York City Council.

But Michael Cardozo, an attorney for the Bloomberg administration, rejected those points in the appeal the city filed Monday. Echoing arguments that have been made by Bloomberg in recent weeks, Cardozo said the Health department has a long track record of implementing ?substantive rules and standards? aimed at protecting the health of city residents. Among other things, he cited a city requirement that fast food restaurants post the calorie counts of their menu items as well as municipal restrictions on the use of lead paint.

Under the law, the so-called "soda ban" would have limited the sale of sugary drinks to just 16 ounces per serving at establishments regulated by the city, including bars, restaurants, bodegas and movie theaters. But there were several exceptions to the rule, including sweetened drinks that were more than 50 percent milk. Ahead of the ban?s implementation, Starbucks said it would not comply amid confusion about how the law would be enforced.

Responding to Tingling?s criticism that the ban was riddled with loopholes, Cardozo argued in the appeal that the law is less about a sweeping ban and more about trying to encourage residents to make better choices about their diet?another point that has been emphasized by Bloomberg in recent weeks.

"The rule is designed to make consumption of large amounts of sugary drinks a conscious and informed choice by the consumer," the city?s appeal read. "Thus, although a consumer is free to consume more than 16 ounces by ordering a second drink, getting a refill, or going to another store, he or she will be making an informed choice."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/york-city-appeals-soda-ban-ruling-164720030--politics.html

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RIM success in 4Q, but too early to declare win

TORONTO (AP) ? Research In Motion Ltd., once written off as dead amid fierce competition from more modern mobile devices such as the iPhone, surprised Wall Street Thursday by returning to profitability and shipping more BlackBerry 10 phones than expected in the most recent quarter.

It will take several quarters, though, to know whether RIM is on a path toward a successful turnaround. RIM just entered the crucial U.S. market with the new phone last week. And despite selling a million BlackBerry 10 phones in other countries, RIM lost subscribers for the second consecutive quarter.

Thursday's earnings report provided a first glimpse of how the BlackBerry 10 system, widely seen as crucial to the company's future, is selling internationally and in Canada since its debut Jan. 31. The 1 million new touch-screen BlackBerry Z10 phones were above the 915,000 that analysts had been expecting for the quarter that ended March 2. Details on U.S. sales are not part of the fiscal fourth quarter's financial results because the Z10 wasn't available there after the quarter ended.

Investors appeared happy with the financial results. RIM's stock rose 34 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $14.91 in afternoon trading Thursday after the release of results. Many analysts had written RIM off last year, but now believe the Canadian company has a future.

"I thought they were dead. This is a huge turnaround," Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said from New York.

Misek said the Canadian company "demolished" the numbers, especially its gross margins. RIM reported gross margins of 40 percent, up from 34 percent a year earlier. The company credited higher average selling prices and higher margins for devices.

"This is a really, really good result," Misek said. "It's off to a good start."

The new BlackBerry 10 phones are redesigned for the new multimedia, Internet browsing and apps experience that customers are now demanding.

The BlackBerry, pioneered in 1999, had been the dominant smartphone for on-the-go business people and other consumers before the iPhone debuted in 2007 and showed that phones can handle much more than email and phone calls. RIM faced numerous delays modernizing its operating system with the BlackBerry 10. During that time, it had to cut more than 5,000 jobs and saw shareholder wealth decline by more than $70 billion.

In the most recent quarter, RIM earned $98 million, or 19 cents a share, compared with a loss of $125 million, or 24 cents a share, a year earlier. After adjusting for restructuring and other one-time items, RIM earned 22 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had been expecting a loss of 31 cents.

Revenue fell 36 percent to $2.7 billion, from $4.2 billion. Analysts had expected $2.82 billion.

RIM shipped 6 million BlackBerry devices, including 1 million on the new system. But RIM lost about 3 million subscribers to end the quarter with 76 million. It's the second consecutive quarterly decline for RIM, whose subscriber based peaked at 80 million last summer.

Bill Kreyer, a tech analyst for Edward Jones, called the decline "pretty alarming."

"This is going to take a couple of quarters to really see how they are doing," Kreyer said.

The company also announced that co-founder Mike Lazaridis will leave the company. He and Jim Balsillie had stepped down as co-CEOs in January 2012 after several quarters of disappointing results, but Lazaridis said he stayed on as vice chairman and a board director to help new CEO Thorsten Heins and his team with the launch of the BlackBerry 10. With that underway, Lazaridis plans to retire May 1. He said he has no plans to sell his 5.7 percent stake in the company.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Lazaridis said the board wanted both him and Jim to stay, but Lazaridis decided "it was the right time" to leave.

Heins, formerly RIM's chief operating officer, has spent the past year cutting costs and steering the company toward the launch of new BlackBerry 10 phones. Lazaridis said Heins has done an excellent job completing the BlackBerry 10 system and launching it around the world.

"The results speak for themselves," Lazaridis said.

Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu said RIM returned to profitability much sooner than expected. He said it was driven by higher gross margins, cost reductions and the sale of the new BlackBerry.

In a research note, Wu wrote that RIM "is here to stay with stabilization in its business and balance sheet" but said the key question remains whether the company can maintain momentum in an industry dominated by Apple and Google's Android software.

The Z10 has received favorable reviews since its release, but the launch in the critical U.S. market was delayed until late this month as wireless carriers completed their testing.

A version with a physical keyboard, called the Q10, won't be released in the U.S. for two or three more months. The delay in selling the Q10 complicates RIM's efforts to hang on to customers tempted by the iPhone and a range of devices running Android. Even as the BlackBerry has fallen behind rivals in recent years, many users have stayed loyal because they prefer a physical keyboard over the touch screen on the iPhone and most Android devices.

RIM, which is changing is formal name to BlackBerry, said it expects to break even in the current quarter despite increasing spending on marketing by 50 percent compared with the previous quarter.

"To say it was a very challenging environment to deliver improved financial results could well be the understatement of the year," Heins said during a conference call with analysts.

Heins said more than half of the people buying the touch-screen Z10 were switching from rival systems. The company didn't provide details or specify whether those other systems were all smartphones. He said the Q10 will sell well among the existing BlackBerry user base. It's expected in some markets in April, but not in the U.S. until May or June.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-28-CN-Earns-Research-In-Motion/id-4f5a19b917f44131b170701ad379ee81

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Obama hopes Supreme Court treats same sex couples fairly (Washington Bureau)

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MakerBot teaming up with OUYA to make 3D printed consoles

Just as the first systems are getting ready to ship this week, MakerBot has teamed up with OUYA to make 3D printable cases for the consoles.

The partnership means that anyone who gets their hands on an OUYA and happens to have a MakerBot Replicator 2 can design and print custom cases for their console. OUYA helped create 3D printing design kits, which are available on MakerBot's website Thingiverse.com for anyone to use. OUYA sees the hardware customization as an extension of their commitment to having an open console.

If you're willing to spend the time (and money) on a 3D printer, there's no reason in their eyes that you shouldn't have a custom case around your OUYA. MakerBot plans to show off the first 3D printed OUYA consoles at the launch event tomorrow in San Francisco, so be on the lookout for some crazy new designs.

Source: MakerBot (BusinessWire)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/ApFmtxlORIY/story01.htm

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?The Korean Zombie? asks Georges St-Pierre to stop wearing ?Rising Sun? symbol at fights

UFC featherweight Chan Sung Jung has a fight with Ricardo Lamas coming up in July. The fight will likely have title implications, and will give "The Korean Zombie" a chance to prove he belongs at the top of the UFC's 145-lb. class. But the upcoming fight didn't keep Jung from speaking up to one of the UFC's biggest stars.

Jung posted a letter on his Facebook page to UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre about the Rising Sun symbol GSP wore to his fight with Nick Diaz.

Dear Mr. Georges St. Pierre
Hi, My name is Chan Sung Jung from South Korea. As one of many Koreans who like you as an incredible athlete, I feel like I should tell you that many Korean fans, including myself, were shocked to see you in your gi designed after the Japanese 'Rising Sun Flag'. For Asians, this flag is a symbol of war crimes, much like the German Hakenkreuzflagge. Did you know that? I hope not.

Just like Nazis, the Japanese also committed atrocities under the name of 'Militarism'. You can easily learn what they've done by googling (please do), although it's only the tiny tip of an enormous iceberg.

Furthermore, the Japanese Government never gave a sincere apology, and still to this day, so many victims are dying in pain, heartbroken, without being compensated. But many westerners like to wear clothes designed after the symbol under which so many war crimes and so much tragedy happened, which is ridiculous.

I know most of them are not militarists. I know most of them do not approve unjustified invasion, torture, massacre, etc. They're just ignorant. It's such a shame that many westerners are not aware of this tragic fact. Wearing Rising Sun outfits is as bad as wearing clothes with the Nazi mark on it, if not worse.

Since you're influenced by Japanese Martial Arts, your wearing a headband designed after Japanese flag is understandable. But again, that huge 'Rising Sun' on your Gi means something else.

Many people say GSP is the best Welterweight fighter throughout history, to which I totally agree. This means you have a great influence on every single fan of yours all around the world. And I do believe your wearing 'the symbol of War Crime' is a very bad example for them, not to mention for yourself.

So, what do you reckon? Do you want to wear the same Gi next time as well?

The Rising Sun flag was used by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II, and it was banned by the United Nations in 1945. Jung is not the only person to have an issue with seeing it used by an athlete. During the 2012 Olympics, Japanese gymnasts wore a leotard that was inspired by the Rising Sun, and some South Koreans were not happy about it.

When one-time MMA sponsor Hoelzer Reich used Nazi imagery on the gear UFC and WEC fighters wore into the cage, the promotions banned their items from the cage. Jung has the courage to speak up to a fighter he admittedly admires. GSP and the UFC owe him a response.

UPDATE: Both GSP and Hayabusa, the company who made GSP's gi, have apologized. GSP posted a statement from Hayabusa:

Since Georges St-Pierre wore our walkout gi at UFC 158 we have received attention surrounding the negative connotation of the rising sun graphic used. The last thing we want is to offend or alienate anyone with the choice of design on our products.

We at Hayabusa have the utmost respect for culture and history and appreciate all of our customers worldwide. As such, we accept full responsibility for this design and are taking all complaints and comments very seriously.

The gi worn by GSP will not be brought to market. In addition, we will be very conscious of this specific design element when developing future communication materials and products.

Please accept our sincerest apology for any offence this has caused. If you have any questions or comments regarding this matter, please feel free to discuss it with us at customerservice@hayabusafightwear.com. One of our representatives will be happy to assist you.

And GSP added:

I'd like to also personally apologize to anyone who was offended by this. I am very sorry, that was never my intention.

Both GSP and Hayabusa acted quickly to apologize. Though it would have been better if the symbol was never used, Jung used the moment to educate others on the issues with the symbol. For that, he should be commended.

Thanks, Bloody Elbow.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/korean-zombie-asks-georges-st-pierre-stop-wearing-164004367--mma.html

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Miner killed in accident just missed death in 2007

Elam Jones came close to death in a central Utah mine accident once before. He was preparing to begin his shift at the Crandall Canyon mine in August 2007 when a cave-in struck the section where he was to have worked, killing six miners and three rescuers.

The 28-year-old coal miner was not so lucky Friday. A tunnel roof collapsed at the Rhino Mine about 10 miles west of Huntington, killing him and sending a co-worker to the hospital.

Even though the earlier accident occurred only a few miles away, Jones loved his job and did not view it as particularly dangerous, said his mother Julie Jones, a Huntington city councilwoman.

"He loved the mine he was at and the men he worked with. They were family," she told The Associated Press on Saturday. "He always said he could get hit going to Salt Lake and get killed in a car wreck."

He also was a member of the ill-fated rescue team at the Crandall Canyon mine. Three rescuers died while trying to save the trapped miners. He later spoke at a vigil for those who died and were injured there.

"He told me that he had to be there. Those were his buddies," his mother said.

Jones also was an experienced outdoorsman who survived two avalanches and a serious ATV accident, his mother said.

A father of two young children, Jones' roots in coal mining went back four generations on his mother's side and three generations on his father's side. His father works for a nearby coal mine.

Coal miners love what they do because they consider themselves the "heartbeat of America," Julie Jones said. The coal they provide to power plants provides jobs for everyone and allows people to use microwaves, televisions and countless other things, she added.

"Elam was proud to be a coal miner," his mother said. "Unless you're a coal miner, you wonder why they do this. It's in their blood."

Friday's accident was the latest in a string of disasters to strike Huntington, a closely knit town of over 2,000. They include the Crandall Canyon mine tragedy as well as a 75-square-mile wildfire that triggered flooding, road closures and threats to the town's water supply last year.

"I've had people come up to me and say, 'How much more can one community take?'" Huntington Mayor Hilary Gordon said. "I guess we'll take whatever gets dished out and take it one day at time."

Elam Jones' life centered on his wife and boys, ages 4 and 5, Gordon said. He was an avid hunter, fisherman and snowmobiler who "lived life to his fullest," she added.

"He thought it was a safe job," the mayor said. "To say it's just one of those things sounds trite. But one (miner) gets buried and the other doesn't. I don't think three's ever a good answer as to why these things happen."

The injured miner, Dallen McFarlane, was treated and released from Castleview Hospital in Price.

The mine is part of the Castle Valley Mining Complex. Preliminary information showed that a roof fall occurred on a pillaring section of the mine after a large rock fell, according to federal mine safety officials. The Mine Safety and Health Administration was investigating.

Messages left with the mine's operator, Rhino Resource Partners, were not returned. The Kentucky-based company bought the mining complex in August 2010.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/miner-killed-accident-just-missed-death-2007-224056685.html

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Endangered giraffe born in Connecticut center

Endangered Rothschild giraffe 'Petal' gives birth to the first calf born at the LEO Zoological Conservation Center. Two other endangered Rothschild giraffes are pregnant at the Connecticut center.

By Associated Press / March 24, 2013

Dagmar, a Rothschild giraffe, nuzzles her newborn calf in their enclosure at Chester Zoo in Chester, northern England this past October. On Friday, a Connecticut conservation center announced the birth of its first calf of its endangered Rothschild giraffes.

Phil Noble/Reuters/File

Enlarge

A rare, nearly 6-foot-tall?giraffe?listed as an endangered subspecies has been born in a Connecticut conservation center.

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The Greenwich Time reports that Petal, a 6-year-old Rothschild?giraffe?gave birth on Friday to female calf as a group of other?giraffes?and staff at the LEO Zoological Conservation Center watched.

Marcella Leone, founder and director of the center, said the young animal is curious, approaching humans early on in its first days of life.

When fully grown, the newborn, who will mingle with a group of five?giraffes, which includes two pregnant giraffes, could reach 18 feet in height.

The calf is the first born at the off-exhibit conservation center.

Rothschild?giraffes?were named and described by Lord Walter Rothschild, a British zoologist, after an expedition to East Africa in the early 1900s.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/zZb6J0DU2Us/Endangered-giraffe-born-in-Connecticut-center

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Pope urges dialogue with Islam, more help for the poor

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis urged the West on Friday to intensify dialogue with Islam and appealed to the world to do more to combat poverty and protect the environment.

Speaking in Italian, the new pontiff said richer countries should fight what he called "the spiritual poverty of our times" by re-forging links with God.

"How many poor people there still are in the world! And what great suffering they have to endure!" he told the diplomats in the Vatican's frescoed Sala Regia.

Some critics of the Catholic Church, which has been struggling with scandals and internal divisions, say its rejection of contraception in particular harms the poor.

Others say it does much good in the developing world, running thousands of hospitals, schools, orphanages and hospices.

Francis made his appeal in an address to diplomats accredited to the Vatican, sending a message through them to the leaders of the 180 states with which the Vatican has diplomatic relations.

He urged them to help keep religion central in public life and promote inter-religious dialogue as a catalyst for efforts to build peace.

"In this work (peace building), the role of religion is fundamental. It is not possible to build bridges between people while forgetting God," he said.

"But the converse is also true: it is not possible to establish true links with God while ignoring other people. Hence it is important to intensify dialogue among the various religions, and I am thinking particularly of dialogue with Islam."

Francis, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, said he was grateful that many Muslim religious and civilian leaders attended his inaugural Mass on Tuesday.

DIALOGUE, NOT RIVALRY

Dialogue, he said, "should help to build bridges connecting all people, in such a way that everyone can see in the other not an enemy, not a rival, but a brother or sister."

He underlined the importance of defending the poor when he explained why he had decided to take the name of St. Francis of Assisi, who is associated with austerity and help for the poor.

"Fighting poverty, both material and spiritual, building peace and constructing bridges: these, as it were, are the reference points for a journey that I want to invite each of the countries here represented to take up," he said.

In his speech, the pope thanked Christians in the developing world "who dedicate themselves to helping the sick, orphans, the homeless and all the marginalized, thus striving to make society more humane and just".

African Catholics have said they want the new pope to champion traditional Church teachings, such as opposing contraception, abortion and same-sex marriage.

Since his election, Francis has drawn attention to the need to defend nature and included it in his speech to the diplomats.

"Here too, it helps me to think of the name of (Saint)Francis, who teaches us profound respect for the whole of creation and the protection of our environment, which all too often, instead of using for the good, we exploit greedily, to one another's detriment," he said.

Francis has set the tone for a humbler papacy. The Vatican said he will hold a Holy Thursday ceremony next week in the chapel of a youth prison instead of in the Vatican or a Rome basilica where it has been held before.

He has also begun inviting outsiders to attend his morning Mass, something which Pope John Paul II did but which Benedict XVI, who is now "pope emeritus", discontinued.

On Thursday, France invited staff of the Santa Martha residence in the Vatican and on Friday it was the turn of Vatican gardeners to attend the morning Mass in the chapel of residence, a spokesman said.

On Saturday, Francis will fly to the papal summer retreat south of Rome to visit Benedict, who last month became the first pope in 600 years to abdicate instead of ruling for life, saying he no longer had the strength to carry out his mission.

(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-urges-dialogue-islam-says-world-must-more-103919637.html

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Quantum computers coming soon? Metamaterials used to observe giant photonic spin Hall effect

Mar. 21, 2013 ? Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have once again demonstrated the incredible capabilities of metamaterials -- artificial nanoconstructs whose optical properties arise from their physical structure rather than their chemical composition. Engineering a unique two-dimensional sheet of gold nanoantennas, the researchers were able to obtain the strongest signal yet of the photonic spin Hall effect, an optical phenomenon of quantum mechanics that could play a prominent role in the future of computing.

"With metamaterial, we were able to greatly enhance a naturally weak effect to the point where it was directly observable with simple detection techniques," said Xiang Zhang, a faculty scientist with Berkeley Lab's Materials Sciences Division who led this research. "We also demonstrated that metamaterials not only allow us to control the propagation of light but also allows control of circular polarization. This could have profound consequences for information encoding and processing."

The spin Hall effect, named in honor of physicist Edwin Hall, describes the curved path that spinning electrons follow as they move through a semiconductor. The curved movement arises from the interaction between the physical motion of the electron and its spin -- a quantized angular momentum that gives rise to magnetic moment. Think of a baseball pitcher putting spin on a ball to make it curve to the left or right.

"Light moving through a metal also displays the spin Hall effect but the photonic spin Hall effect is very weak because the spin angular momentum of photons and spin-orbit interactions are very small," says Xiaobo Yin, a member of Zhang's research group and the lead author of the Science paper. "In the past, people have managed to observe the photonic spin Hall effect by generating the process over and over again to obtain an accumulative signal, or by using highly sophisticated quantum measurements. Our metamaterial makes the photonic spin Hall effect observable even with a simple camera."

Metamaterials have garnered a lot of attention in recent years because their unique structure affords electromagnetic properties unattainable in nature. For example, a metamaterial can have a negative index of refraction, the ability to bend light backwards, unlike all materials found in nature, which bend light forward. Zhang, who holds the Ernest S. Kuh Endowed Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California (UC) Berkeley, where he also directs the National Science Foundation's Nano-scale Science and Engineering Center, has been at the forefront of metamaterials research. For this study, he and his group fashioned metamaterial surfaces about 30 nanometers thick (a human hair by comparison is between 50,000 and 100,000 nanometers thick). These metasurfaces were constructed from V-shaped gold nanoantennas whose geometry could be configured by adjusting the length and orientation of the arms of the Vs.

"We chose eight different antenna configurations with optimized geometry parameters to generate a linear phase gradient along the x direction," says Yin. "This enabled us to control the propagation of the light and introduce strong photon spin-orbit interactions through rapid changes in direction. The photonic spin Hall effect depends on the curvature of the light's trajectory, so the sharper the change in propagation direction, the stronger the effect."

Since the entire metasurface sample measured only 0.3 millimeters, a 50-millimeter lens was used to project the transmission of the light through the metamaterial onto a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera for imaging. From the CCD images, the researchers determined that both the control of light propagation and the giant photonic spin Hall effect were the direct results of the designed meta-material. This finding opens up a wealth of possibilities for new technologies.

"The controllable spin-orbit interaction and momentum transfer between spin and orbital angular momentum allows us to manipulate the information encoded on the polarization of light, much like the 0 and 1 of today's electronic devices," Yin says. "But photonic devices could encode more information and provide greater information security than conventional electronic devices."

Yin says the ability to control left and right circular polarization of light in metamaterial surfaces should allow for the formation of optical elements, like highly coveted "flat lenses," or the management of light polarization without using wave plates.

"Metamaterials provide us with tremendous design freedom that will allow us to modulate the strength of the photonic spin Hall effect at different spatial locations," Yin says. "We knew the photonic spin Hall effect existed in nature but it was so hard to detect. Now, with the right metamaterials we can not only enhance this effect we can harness it for our own purposes."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. X. Yin, Z. Ye, J. Rho, Y. Wang, X. Zhang. Photonic Spin Hall Effect at Metasurfaces. Science, 2013; 339 (6126): 1405 DOI: 10.1126/science.1231758

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/physics/~3/5swIk_-rtcw/130321151921.htm

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Huawei's Ascend G700 exposed, may be Ascend D2's cheaper cousin

Watch out, Richard Yu! Not long after the China launch of the 6.1-inch Huawei Ascend Mate earlier today, the notorious @evleaks tweeted out the above two press shots of an Ascend G700, as well as referring to an old tweet from the often reliable @paopao0128 (of Blog of Mobile fame) who suggested the G700 will feature Android 4.2, a quad-core MediaTek MT6589 SoC (as opposed to the quad-core Huawei HiSilicon K3V2 chip on the Ascend Mate and the Ascend D2), an "HD" LCD (our money's on 720p only, like the leaked G710) and both WCDMA and TD-SCDMA flavors.

Another fresh G700 leak we found shows a hands-on photo obtained from Sina Weibo (which has since been deleted, but it's also right after the break), and it also mentions that the phone will have a 5-inch display plus 2GB of RAM. There's no info on pricing, but the careless leakster on Weibo reminded us that the budget-minded G series devices never go over ¥2,000 or about $320 unsubsidized. To put that into perspective, the quad-core, 5-inch full-HD D2 is currently available for almost twice as many yuans. Well, it shouldn't be long before Chinese consumers get yet another 5-inch device to stuff their pockets.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Source: @paopao0128 (Twitter), @evleaks (Twitter), Baidu Tieba

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/G5d_A9wSFp0/