Jony Ive: Apple nearly gave up on touch with the first iPhone

Apple's senior vice president of design Jony Ive did not mince words about the competition at today's Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit. When he sees designs from Apple in the products of other companies he isn't very flattered.

The official Twitter account for Vanity Fair tweeted some choice quotes from Jony Ive. Here are some of our favorites:

"I think a beautiful product that doesn't work very well is ugly" "I don't see it as flattery, I see it as theft, and it's lazy." - on Xiaomi's copy-cat phone "There were a thousand reasons, and many occasions, where we nearly gave up" on touch 

Hit up the Vanity Fair Twitter stream to see some more. There should be video shortly posted online of Jony Ive. We'll share it when it does go live.

Source: @VanityFair

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NAB takes AU$1b hit, writes down AU$297m in software

National Australia Bank has flagged a slide in its full-year earnings of up to 14 percent after taking a more than AU$1 billion hit to its books.



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Affordable, lightweight ceramic/aluminum brake rotors developed

When it comes to making cars more energy-efficient – whether they're battery- or gas-powered – getting their weight down is one of the best things you can do. Unfortunately, the cast iron brake rotors currently used in most vehicles are quite heavy. Lighter ceramic rotors certainly do exist, although their high price mostly limits their application to expensive sports cars. Soon, however, ceramic-coated aluminum rotors may be a cost-effective lightweight alternative for economy cars. .. Continue Reading Affordable, lightweight ceramic/aluminum brake rotors developed



Section: Automotive



Tags: Braking, Ceramics, Empa, Lightweight



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US Navy demonstrates how robotic "swarm" boats could protect warships

In an age plagued by terrorism, the threat posed to the world’s navies and merchant fleets by small craft laden with explosives or crews with automatic weapons is a very real and present danger. To help combat this, the United States Navy's Office of Naval Research (ONR) is developing a fleet of robotic patrol boats that can not only act as escorts for larger warships or merchant vessels, but can also autonomously swarm around a threatening craft and destroy it. .. Continue Reading US Navy demonstrates how robotic "swarm" boats could protect warships



Section: Military



Tags: Boats, ONR, Robots, Swarm, Terrorism, Unmanned, US Navy, USVs



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3D-printed gun folds and shoots paper planes

Why would you fold and throw your paper planes by hand when you could get this beautiful machine to do it for you?

















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European scientists developing a robotic tree

The animal kingdom contains many examples of efficient forms of locomotion, so it's no wonder that we've been seeing a lot of animal-inspired robots – recent examples have included a robotic cheetah, fish and snake. Plants, however, just sit there ... don't they? Actually, they do move, just not necessarily in a Point A to Point B manner. With that in mind, Europe's PLANTOID project consortium is now in the process of developing a tree-like robot. Its descendants might ultimately find use in the exploration of other planets. .. Continue Reading European scientists developing a robotic tree



Section: Robotics



Tags: Biomimicry, Environment, Monitoring, Plants



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"Magic" marker helps investigators in hunt for fingerprints

A "magic" marker pen developed at the University of Leicester enables forensic experts, police and criminal investigators to quickly determine whether a receipt potentially containing fingerprint deposits is made of thermal paper, with another device then used to reveal the presence of any fingerprints. The devices come thanks to the work of the suitably-named Dr Bond, John Bond, from the University's Department of Criminology... Continue Reading "Magic" marker helps investigators in hunt for fingerprints



Section: Good Thinking



Tags: Fingerprint, Forensics, Paper, University of Leicester



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