Tablet Technology 'Keeps More Officers On Beat'

Bespoke technology makes stop and search and witnesses statement processes more efficient.

Specialist software developed by a force to bolster operational policing has helped to keep more officers on the front line, the project lead has said.

Sussex Police has developed around 20 apps ranging from stop and search software to digital witness statements for 50 Blackberry PlayBook tablets as part of a pilot to harness the benefits of technology in operational policing.

The software enables officers to carry out tasks that would traditionally require the completion of paperwork while they are out on patrol to maximise their time in the community.

The stop and search app, which was developed by the force in July, allows officers to bring up information about when and where a person has been stopped and searched before rather than having it relayed via Airwave.

Project lead Ch Insp John Asser said the software had the potential to evolve further – the information could be plotted on a map to help officers visualise the data.

In an interview with PoliceOracle.com he added: “This allows officers to do things faster and more efficiently and ultimately improves the quality of service we offer.

“It is a really exciting project – there is potential to develop this technology further. There are huge benefits in terms of cost savings and efficiencies.”

Officers who have been involved in the pilot initiative in Lewes can also produce digital witness statements, which can be signed electronically and securely emailed – cutting out the need to return to the station and deal with paperwork.

Meanwhile the command and control software allows officers equipped with the tablets to research locations and view previous incidents in their area of operations.

The initiative is now being implemented elsewhere within the force, with the introduction of an additional 50 tablets.

Ch Insp Asser asserted: “When we were developing the apps we had the design team working in stations so the officers using the software could suggest improvements. We also had online user forums and user groups to evolve the technology even further.

“We wanted to make sure we were embedding the officers into the process as much as possible.”

Explaining the potential for further software developments, Ch Insp Asser added: “We could develop the use of GPS so that as an officer on patrol moves through certain areas they can identify ongoing incidents, such as a car reported missing, a burglary that has just been reported or to check on a victim of crime.”

iPhone 5S rumours;Apple may abondon In-cell screen Technology For iPhone 5S

The iPhone 5 uses a new type of screen that makes the device thin and light. However, the in-cell screen may also have enough problems that Apple is considering dropping it.

The major issue with the in-cell screen on the latest iPhone is that production difficulties with this critical component appear to be restricting the speed at which Apple can produce the whole handset. 

In addition, there have been reports of a hardware issue that can case the screen to briefly freeze under certain conditions.

An unconfirmed report from The China Times says that Apple is in talks with Chimei Innolux about using its  "touch-on display" technology in the iPhone 5S. Like in-cell, this is thin and light, but hopefully lacking the problems of in-cell screens.

There's no definitive word on when Apple's plans to introduce its next smartphone. An unconfirmed report indicated it could be as early as this summer.

'Touch On Display' Apple Testing New Technology For Next Gen iPhone

According to a rumor from The China Times [Google translation], Apple is planning to adopt new touch panels with "Touch on Display" technology for the next iteration of the iPhone. The panels, which have been developed by Apple supplier Innolux, are said to be in testing at the moment. 

Apple's iPhone 5 incorporated a display that uses in-cell technology, and it has been reported that problems with the recognition of rapid diagonal swiping on the screen are due to the display. That may be one reason Apple is looking at new touch panel technology. 

The China Times concurs, pointing to the slow response speed of the iPhone 5's touch panels along with interference issues as the deciding factor behind the switch. 

There isn't much information available about the Touch On Display panels, but they are said to be thin and tough, with a thickness of 0.5mm and improved optical performance and sensitivity. 

The new display would presumably be used in Apple's iPhone 5S, which could be entering production as early as the first quarter of 2013. 

Rumors about the next-generation iPhone are already surfacing, with a report earlier this week claiming that the iPhone may launch in mid–2013 in several different colors and sizes, and a leaked photo in December of what might be the rear shell of the next phone.

Some Time Technology IS Harmfull: 10 Weirdest Deaths by Technology

Technology is supposed to make our lives better: our meat easier to chew, our water easier to carry, our ox carts easier to move. But all too often we weak, squishy, meat sacks of the human variety find ourselves on the wrong side of innovation.

The result? Deaths by tech that are almost too absurd to be believed.

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Death by Peg Leg

What's worse than being beaten to death by an angry mob of your fellow countrymen? Sir Arthur Aston, Royalist commander of the garrison during the Siege of Drogheda, found out in 1649. It's being beaten to death with your own wooden leg because people think it has gold hidden inside. [Berkshire Royal History - Image: Fitnews]

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Death by Ball Lightning

Professor Georg Wilhelm Richmann of Saint Petersburg, Russia, was a pioneer in the study of electricity and among the first to perform electrical experiments. He also became the very first person on Earth to die by those experiments when he was struck in the head by a globe of ball lightning in 1753. [Physics Today - Image: Sarah Clark / Shutterstock]

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Death by Beer Flood

Swimming in beer is not nearly as fun as it sounds. In 1814, seven people died when brew vats at the Meux and Company Brewery in London broke and spilled 1,468,000 liters (388,000 gallons) onto city streets, drowning some, fatally injuring others, and even giving one guy alcohol poisoning. [Badass Digest]

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Death by Train

Mary Ward is the holder of another macabre first. In 1869, she fell from the passenger car of a train she was riding and was crushed beneath the wheels. Per an account from the King's County Chronicle of September 1st, 1869,

The vehicle had steam up, and was going at an easy pace, when on turning the sharp corner at the church, unfortunately the Hon. Mrs. Ward was thrown from the seat and fearfully injured, causing her almost immediate death. The unfortunate lady was taken into the house of Dr. Woods which is nearly opposite the scene of the unhappy occurrence, and as that gentleman was on the spot everything that could be done was done, but it was impossible to save her life.

She was the first person to ever die in a road accident involving motorized transportation. Oddly enough, her younger cousin Charles Algernon, helped design and build not only the train car that killed her but also went on to create the steam turbine. [Offally History - Chen.Z / Shutterstock]

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Death by Molasses Wave

If you thought beer was bad, you should see what molasses does. In 1919, 21 people died and another 150 were injured when a 2.3 million gallon tank of the brown goo exploded and unleashed a 35 mph wave of sticky death through downtown Boston. [Wikipedia]

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Death by Criticality

In 1945 nuclear scientist Harry K. Daghlian, Jr. broke the first rule of the Manhattan Project —he accidentally dropped a brick of tungsten carbide onto a plutonium sphere. When the two elements met, the plutonium went critical and released a lethal dose of ionizing radiation. Mr. Daghlian Jr. holds the dubious distinction of being the first person ever killed in a criticality accident. [MPHPA]

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Death by Explosive Decompression

The Soviet cosmonauts Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev are the only three men in history to die outside of the Earth's atmosphere. The trio perished when the Soyuz-11 spacecraft accidentally depressurized during reentry in 1971. [Wikipedia]

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Death by Robo-Arm

Robots may be just starting to take our jobs but they've already taken our lives. In 1979, Robert Williams died from massive head injuries inflicted by a one-ton factory robot at the Ford Motor Co. plant where he worked. [Newsbank - Nataliya Hora / Shutterstock]

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Death by Helicopter Rotor

Boris Sagal, Ukranian film director and father to Katey "Peg Bundy" Sagal, died in 1981 while on the set of the World War III TV miniseries he was directing. He accidentally walked into a helicopter's spinning tail rotor and instantly decapitated himself. [New York Times]

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Death by "Unbreakable" Window

This is what happens when we place too much confidence in our technology. In 1993, Garry Hoy, a Canadian lawyer fell 24 stories to his death because the "unbreakable" windows that his firm had installed didn't, in fact, break when he threw himself against it during a demonstration for visiting law students—but the molding around the glass did

BMW 328 hommage concept car video

                  BMW 328 Hommage Concept
BMW has rolled out a new concept sports car to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the legendary BMW 328 roadster.The BMW 328 Hommage Concept merges the BMW Vision Connected Drive concept with styling elements of the old 328, especially the kidney-style grille, taped racing headlamps and an open cockpit.The 328 Hommage is laced with a carbon fiber skin, a tan accented interior and the edgy-curved shape that shares the inspiration of other recent BMW concepts.This one-off concept will be powered by a 3.0L inline-six, but a beauty like this is built to drive slow and turn heads.

Asus Adopts Leap Motion Gesture Technology For New PCs (video)

We have featured the new Leap motion technology before on Geeky Gadgets, but today Asus and Leap have announced that they will be including Leap motion sensing technology with select computer systems this year.

The Leap motion technology is 200 times more accurate than Microsoft’s Kinect motion sensing technology, and has already signed up more than 26,000 developers to create application s for its technology. Watch the video after the jump to see it in action.

Leap Motion announced today that the new partnership with Asus, will allow it to ship its Leap motion controller with select Asus notebooks and desktops including the Asus All-in-One PCs. With the Leap app stores pre-installed on the selected Asus systems.

“Leap represents an entirely new way to interact with your computers. It’s more accurate than a mouse, as reliable as a keyboard and more sensitive than a touchscreen. For the first time, you can control a computer in three dimensions with your natural hand and finger movements.

This isn’t a game system that roughly maps your hand movements. The Leap technology is 200 times more accurate than anything else on the market — at any price point. Just about the size of a flash drive, the Leap can distinguish your individual fingers and track your movements down to a 1/100th of a millimeter.”

A Symposium on Technology for persons with disabilities

RIYADH: The National Symposium on Informatics (NSI) is an event held each other year by the College of Information and Computer Sciences at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. The 4th symposium will take place from 23 to 25of April 2013 and is titled ‘Technologies for Special Needs’. It aims to draw the attention of the Saudi and global scientific society and raise awareness among researchers in related fields to target users with disabilities; whether in taking accessibility standards into account or for developing specific products that serves these users directly.

The main themes of the symposium will be regarding the use of information technology to help persons with disabilities, new technologies and development for persons with disabilities in different areas such as education and health, and best practices in teaching. Furthermore, the Symposium will highlight the latest research in the field of computers and information technology for persons with disabilities such as hearing, sight and other sensory and motor disabilities, memory, learning and cognitive disabilities and individuals with multiple disabilities.

The symposium offers an outstanding lineup of keynote speakers and sessions by distinguished researchers and activists in the field; including Professor Mohamed Jemni, a researcher at the Laboratory of Technologies of Information and Communication and Electrical Engineering at the University of Tunis and an active member of the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs (G3ICT) and Mr. Shadi Abu-Zahra, an Activity Lead of the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Accessibility Initiative International Program Office. Additionally, the symposium will offer attendees many workshops with various related topics ranging from web accessibility conformance to learning the Saudi Arabian Sign Language offered by many experts in the field. In conjunction to the symposium, an exhibition will be held to showcase several advancements and technologies targeted for persons with disabilities by many of the industries big names.