This article is about how just recently, companies Apple and HTC have signed a 10-year licensing deal meaning that every single one of Apple's and HTC's lawsuits filed against each other has now been settled. Both have been sued by each other for infringing on each other's patents. This new licencing deal means that the companies can use each other's patents to a certain extent- giving their phones an edge over the rest of the smartphone market. HTC says they signed the deal to focus on making better products instead of spending so much time dealing with court. Some analysts say that Apple settled the lawsuits quickly to deal with Samsung and their lawsuits towards them. Apple has signed agreements previously with Nokia and Microsoft allowing them to use certain patents. I chose the tag of portable computing because both Apple and HTC produce many successful smartphone portable computing. Hopefully this deal will help improve both of their smartphone operations benefiting us consumers. In my opinion I think that this whole suing fest (lack of a better word) that has been going on recently is pretty silly as many cases don't seem as if they are worthy to be being sued about. I am glad to see that Apple has settled their disputes with HTC to cut down on this smartphone lawsuit drama.

This article is about the advancement of 3D printers recently. A 3D printer is a device that creates 3 dimensional objects from digital models. A 3D printer accomplishes this by spraying on layers of plastics or metals to eventually create an object. This article focuses mostly on new software which pinpoints weak spots in a 3D print digital model and adds thickness or struts where needed. There is also an option to reduce the thickness in some areas where it is already structurally sound enough, reducing the amount of material needed, weight and cost. 3D printers have become so advanced recently that an average person can go and pick one up for as little as $300. The future of 3D printing looks amazing and as time goes on, these devices will become more and more advanced.  I chose the tag of eLifestyle because 3D printers are quickly becoming a household device that many can afford. Advances in printer technology are making it possible to find a model online and then print it out right in the comfort of your own home, instead of going out and buying it. I really like the idea of 3D printing, it feels so futuristic in that we can print our own things on a whim. I think 3D printers could also be quite dangerous as anyone who has access to one of these devices could print out weapons such as knives and firearms. It seems as authorities would have trouble controlling this and could pose a major problem in the near future. Overall 3D printing has both its ups and downs.

New "surveillance--proof" app, Silent Circle has been released providing an easy way for people to text and call people without anyone else ever knowing what has been said, including ISPs and governments. This app makes sure no one can eave drop on your personal business by using what's called encryption. Encryption is the process of changing data into a secret code, the secret code can then only be read by the device you are trying to communicate with. The encryption codes are randomly generated each time the app is used so it is almost impossible to crack the code. This app is can be used on iOS and is currently in development for other devices and platforms as well. Some feel that free communication should be a right, but governments must be feeling a little bit nervous about this app. I chose the tag "privacy and security" because this article is about how Silent Circle has given people an easy way to speak in a secure and private environment without any intervention from anyone else other than the communicators. In my opinion I feel that free communication is important, but people will abuse this through using this app to possibly deal drugs, plan terrorist attacks, or other illegal activities. Who knows, maybe even the government controls this network to monitor people who use it, but that is just a theory.

This article is about how graphene, a material made up of only carbon, could revolutionize smartphones and other other portable devices. Graphene is 100 times stronger than steel and can be made so thin, an ounce of it could cover 28 football fields. Touch screens made with this material would be very strong, light, flexible ,and  and as thin as a piece of paper. A device could be able to fold and fit easily into a pocket. Other possible uses for graphene are thin solar panels, and bionic implants in humans. Once scientists are able to produce large amounts of graphene economically all these products could exist. I chose the tag "portable computing" because this article focuses mostly on the use of graphene for portable smartphones and devices. This material could completely change the portable computing industry.  In my opinion I think graphene has a large potential and scientists should work to make products made with this available as soon as possible. 

With each new generation of smartphones, dropped calls and battery life issues are still an issue, the reason is partly because antenna technology has not changed very much. Scottish scientists have changed this. They spent 7 years to create a cellphone antenna quite smaller than a coin. The Sofant Technologies team claims that this new antenna is more efficient, finding signals faster and using up less battery life. The smaller something is in technology the less it has to travel therefore speeding the device up. The antenna also takes advantage of the full potential of LTE and 4G connectivity. Sofant plans on licensing its designs to smartphone manufacturers all over the world.  I chose the tag of portable computing because this article is about antennas, a vital part of a cellphone. This new antenna will affect people who use cellphones, which is a large amount of people in North America. In my opinion I think this new antenna is long overdue. The fact that antenna technology hasn't changed much over the years is pretty surprising. This new antenna is a step in the right direction for smartphones. 

The "Green Brain Project" aims to create an insectobot (a robotic insect) with the brain of a honey bee. It's not as crazy or difficult as it sounds though, the researchers working on this project are not directly copying a bees brain but trying to recreate it. More specifically they are recreating bees two most important senses- sight and smell. They will then upload this fake brain into a small insect like robot so it can act somewhat like a real honey bee. This is important, as it would be a huge step forward in robotics and also because scientists say they could use robotic bees to artificially pollinate. This could help  with the reduced number of honeybees. Bees are very important to the whole environment so this project could possibly be revolutionary. I chose the tag "environment" because scientist are trying to recreate a natural animal that not only comes from Earth but greatly impacts it. Plants need bees pollination to grow, and animals need plants to eat so with a lack of bees, the whole food web would take a major hit. This project aims to try to fix this. To me, it seems like it would be extremely expensive and difficult to create as many bees as the earth would need. Maybe in the distant future though, this may be realized.

This article is about how Apple's competition with Google is hurting both Apple and its users. The removal of Google maps and no Google+ integration in iOS6 is an example of this. It relates whats going today with Apple in 1985-1997 which had tried making many unsuccessful products. The author believes this has to do with its strong competition with Microsoft. They were focusing more on beating Microsoft with new products than actually developing quality ones. After Steve Jobs came back from leaving Apple he decided to partner with Microsoft and the quality of new products greatly improved. The author says that the same thing is happening with Apple vs Google, and unless Apple decides to stop, it will hurt the company and its users. I chose the tag of eLifestyle because everyday users of Apple are being affected by the new maps unreliability and no Google+ integration. Apple will continue to affect us even more if they don't decide to focus on creating quality products. In my opinion, I agree with the author and I think that Apple needs to think a little more like how Steve Jobs would.