News

Roboy - Moves Like A Human   Wednesday 02 January

Roboy is a humanoid robot under development at the University of Zurich's Artificial Intelligence Lab and if you want to join in you can make a contribution via a crowdfunding scheme.

Boson Samplling Tests Quantum Computing   Wednesday 02 January

Despite all the hype, we still don't know if we can build a quantum computer that is worth anything. Now we have something that might provide a shortcut to the test of a full machine - boson sampling.

30 Years of Modern Internet   Wednesday 02 January

It is now 30 years since the transition, completed on January 1 1983,  from the use of disparate packet-switched networks to the unified computer communication protocol TCP/IP pioneered by Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn.

Z Space - A Real 3D Display   Tuesday 01 January

Just as 3D TV is in its final death-throws, 3D display technology might be about to push augmented reality into another "dimension".

YouTube Android Player API   Tuesday 01 January

YouTube has released an API that you can use to embed YouTube videos in your Android apps.

Android Games Console OUYA SDK Released   Monday 31 December

The open-source games console from OUYA now has its own open source development kit. OUYA consoles have so far only been shipped to 1200 developers, but the Dev Portal is now open for anyone to try.

Puppets To Teach Electronics   Monday 31 December

AdaFruit has a plan to get even the youngest of children into building electronics. Meet Cappy the capacitor, Hans the 555 timer, and so on. Yes, puppets teach electronics!

Intel Perceptual Computing Challenge   Monday 31 December

Intel has launched a $1 million developer contest that runs throughout 2013 to create innovative applications that take advantage of the Intel Perceptual Computing SDK and a new interactive gesture camera from Creative.

Microsoft Patents Internet Hugs   Sunday 30 December

Sending hugs long distances sounds like the sort of thing wished for in soppy songs, but Microsoft has just taken out a patent for an Internet-enabled pillow that will give you a hug sent across the Web.

Plenoptic Sensors For Computational Photography   Saturday 29 December

Light field photography based on the use of a plenoptic lens was brought to public attention by Lytro with the first camera that allowed users to focus after they took the shot. The big problem is that Lytro has been slow to improve and slow to capitalized on the fact that light field photography is essentially a matter of software. All this might be about to change.

Silicon Valley - A New Documentary   Saturday 29 December

A new documentary rolls back the years to 1957 and the amazing but little-told story of the "traitorous eight" and how they left one of the first semiconductor companies to found the first startup of the computer age - Fairchild Semiconductor.

Amazon Releases AWS Command Line Interface   Friday 28 December

Amazon has released a developer preview of a new tool that you can use to manage AWS services and automate them through scripts.

Ada 2012 Approved   Thursday 27 December

The ISO has published a new standard for Ada, the language originally developed for the US Department of Defense. The new version, Ada 2012, has enhancements for contract-based programming.

Professional Programmer

Programming News Review Of 2012   Monday 31 December

2012 was an eventful year. We pick out some of the highlights from the programmer's point of view.

Niecza - Perl 6 Implemented in .NET   Friday 28 December

Continuing our in-depth exploration of Perl 6 implementations we interviewed Stefan O'Rear about the Niecza project, the Perl 6 implementation for the .NET and Mono platform.