Chip May Allow Smartphones to See Through Objects

Ali Hajimiri, a professor of electrical engineering at the California Institute of Technology, has created a chip capable of producing terahertz waves—radiation that can penetrate materials such as plastic and wood without the side effects associated with X-rays. When connected with a computer or mobile device, the 0.1 inch-wide silicon chip could help doctors locate skin cancer noninvasively and speed up passenger scans at airport security lines.

So-called T-rays have been used mostly in experiments in medical and dental imaging. Typically, the rays are created with bulky, expensive machines, which “see” using a single large beam that can image only a narrow area. Hajimiri, working with postdoctoral researcher Kaushik Sengupta, got thousands of tiny transistors to operate in concert, producing terahertz waves from a smaller package.

Installed in a smartphone, the chip could be used to quickly scan packages at a post office for security threats or to find art hidden behind the paint on the walls of historic buildings. Unlike X-rays, which have such high energy they can change the chemistry of objects they enter, T-rays are relatively harmless, Hajimiri says. The chip’s functionality comes with a price, however. If people can see through walls, McGregor warns, “there’s going to be a whole bunch of red flags thrown up by people around privacy issues.” If the device goes into mass production, he adds, it could cost as little as a dollar.

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Bringing Apps to PCs and MACs

BlueStacks App Player software can run Android apps designed for a mobile phone on most computers, allowing players to experience the game on a larger display. Once installed on a PC or Mac, the software lets users operate games and other apps with their mouse, touch pad or microphone.

With Apple and Google apps both running on Windows, the best platform will win, he says. Apple, Google and Microsoft declined to comment. Many more apps are available for mobile devices than for desktops and laptops. Apple's App Store contains more than 800,000 mobile apps, and Google Play offers more than 700,000.

As of last month, the Apple Mac App Store had about 14,000 apps, while Microsoft had about 43,000 for Windows PCs, according to app tracker Distimo. "For PC makers, increasingly, the latest, greatest and most desirable experiences aren't available on their platforms," says John Jackson, an analyst at IDC.

In the future, the software might even let an Android tablet or phone run an iPad app, he says. "Any computer - a tablet, a phablet (a smartphone with a screen of 5 inches or more), a desktop - could use BlueStacks," says Manju Hegde, a corporate vice president at AMD.

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Who's using social media?

Social networking giant Facebook is used by two-thirds of adults who are online. “Women are more likely than men to be Facebook users, and Facebook use is especially common among younger adults.”

Pew says 16% of Internet users are on Twitter — that’s double from November 2010. People 18 to 29 are the most likely to use Twitter, and urban-dwellers are significantly more likely than both suburban and rural residents to use the service.

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