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Located in   Tangshan   (Hebei Province), the   CNR factory   is an immense facility covering 75.000 square meters that puts together trains and  carriages at different building stages. Its halls are equipped with the finest tools, hyper - sized ovens, 30 meter long presses, and robot welders. Arranged by the State Council, this media visit to the Tangshan factory provided reporters with a rare first-hand glimpse into the beating heart of China’s bullet train. It also matters a lot for the US, as Tangshan   may become the provider of bullet trains for   California   whenever it completes its proposed high-speed rail network. The atmosphere here is complex, being at the same time friendly, with smiling faces, and quasi-military. A guard is posted in front of each bullet train, discreet but ready to push back visitors who are too nosy.  While the factory is not keen on providing much data regarding its economic operation, it more t...

Solid-state storage may be sexy, but if you’re looking for huge capacity and tiny prices, then the classic hard disk remains unbeaten. Available capacities of portable drives with laptop-style disks inside now extends up to a whopping 2000GB, more commonly referred to as 2 terabytes (TB). Most portable USB drives are powered from the connected computer, so you can use them on the move without the need to plug into the mains. Best portable hard drives: Capacity Even the smallest portable hard drive you’ll likely find today will be 500GB in size, which is enough space to hold around 2000 CD albums in decent loss-less FLAC format, or twice that number in lower quality MP3 or AAC format. Off-loading your music collection alone from a computer to a portable drive can be a godsend in freeing valuable space if your laptop has limited SSD storage, for example. Another popular application of a portable hard drive is for keeping critical backups of your data held on a PC or laptop. Yo...

Player LENS This app benefits professional football clubs by centralising the loan system and creating one electronic exchange platform, detailing all available players. It can be used on smartphones and tablets, iOS and Android, allowing club officials to operate within the loan market from anywhere – while standing on the training pitch, sitting in the stands or travelling on the road. Historically, an ad hoc system meant that clubs and officials had to field unsolicited enquiries about any of their players but Player LENS offers increased efficiency and effectiveness to users and greater harmony and transparency to the loan market as a whole. High Octane Ride This innovative exercise bike is designed for use in an office rather than a gym. Three 10-minute sessions a week on the bike are said to lead to a 15 per cent cardiovascular fitness improvement and a 28 per cent increase in sensitivity to insulin in as little as six to eight weeks. WallJAM ...

Details about Samsung’s new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge smartphones were hard to come by until last weekend, when the South Korean tech giant posted the support pages for both products on overseas Web sites. Pages for the Galaxy S6 (product number SM-G920X) and the S6 Edge (SM-G925X) were spotted on Samsung’s Finnish and Swedish Web sites, respectively, by Dutch Samsung expert site GalaxyClub.nl. TechnoBuffalo reported that Samsung filed for a trademark on Galaxy S6 in South Korea last week. The filing lists Samsung C & T Corp. as the applicant. Reminiscent of iPhone   The support pages didn’t contain any images or product specs, but it was the first acknowledgment from Samsung that the new phones officially existed. The standard Galaxy S6 will have an aluminum unibody chassis, reminiscent of Apple’s iPhone, and the S6 Edge will copy the side edge display of the Note 4, according to the images that were leaked elsewhere last week. Because of its curved desig...

Numerous users have reported that their new Raspberry Pi 2 computer freezes when they take photos of it. The Raspberry Pi 2 is a $35 credit card-sized computer, featuring a quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM, capable of running a variety of operating systems. Even Microsoft is getting in on the Raspberry Pi 2 action, announcing that it will build a version of Windows 10 for the platform. According to NeoWin, users on the Raspberry Pi forum have reported that using a Xenon flash when taking photos will cause the computer to freeze and then reboot. The issue isn't a general flash issue however, as an LED flash will work fine. The publication reported that the phenomenon isn't new, but that most manufacturers take extra steps to shield their chips. Hopefully the Raspberry Foundation rolls out updated hardware.

The Raspberry Pi has been a great success, selling millions since launch in 2012 and igniting hobbyists' imagination everywhere. The Pi is a tiny computer at a tiny price, but now the arrival of a seriously upgraded Raspberry Pi 2 has brought the performance that the first lacked, in a package the same size at the same cost of US$35. The Raspberry Pi 2 Model B, to give its full name, bumps the memory (RAM) from 512MB to 1GB, and introduces a 900mhz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 processor. The new board also requires less power and is pin-compatible with previous boards so it will be backwards-compatible with existing projects. Simon’s son, James, has been a bit click-happy when programs are loading. A little more horsepower and memory might avoid seeing multiple copies of programs load up as an impatient eight-year-old wonders: “Did I click it? Let me just click again.” We built a 64-node Raspberry Pi cluster at Southampton in 2012, and it made a great demonstrator, but ...

The smartphone technology has taken the world by storm and almost everyone across the globe is embracing this technology with companies taking advantage of the market with some amazing products, both in the lower end and upper end of the economic spectrum. Apple’s iOS is a pioneer operating system in the smartphone niche. However, it did not take long before the company received what has become to be an arch rival in this niche – Android OS. This Google-based operating system has ensured that a fierce battle remains between Google and Apple over which mobile phone operating system developer is the best. Each one of the two companies is always working hard to outshine each other with some amazing releases in their OS platforms. With such a competitive mobile environment that includes other players like Windows Phone, BlackBerry and Bada, it is very important to stay innovative, a feat that Apple has been exceptional at achieving. Android, on the other hand, has also been swift at rein...

Microsoft has revealed an early version of an augmented reality headset called HoloLens that creates interactive holographic imagery in the wearer's field of vision. Shaped like a pair of chunky wraparound sunglasses, Microsoft HoloLens is a cordless headset with transparent lenses – intended to offer a mixed reality where digital objects are laid over the physical world. Rather than creating an entirely virtual universe, like the Oculus Riftheadset, HoloLens will conjure high-definition digital holograms in existing spaces as if they are really there. Unlike Google Glass, HoloLens promises to dress the real world with complex objects or menus that can be interacted with via motion-control technology, using points of the finger and other hand movements. Revealed yesterday at a special Windows 10 event in Redmond, Washington, where Microsoft is based, a concept video shows a kitchen adorned with interactive holographic displays typical of the tiles in the...

The big focus for Microsoft was the unification of all its products, and trying to offer users a seamless experience whether they’re on their phone, tablet or computer. However, the biggest news was Microsoft’s new virtual reality glasses. Here are the biggest things Microsoft announced: Windows 10, the start menu returns Microsoft is still trying to make an operating system that will work well on both PCs and mobile devices, and it hopes Windows 10 is it. It now includes a start menu that expands to look like Windows 8’s home screen and a new Action Center where you can quick toggle settings. There’s also a new feature called continuum designed to make the switch from keyboard and mouse to touchscreen seamless. They all seem like little things, but Microsoft is confident it will significantly improve the whole experience. The update will be free for a year for everyone who is already on Windows 8 Your phone is now your computer ...

Logitech Bluetooth Multi-Device Keyboard The   Logitech® Bluetooth® Multi-Device Keyboard K480  is designed for use with up to three devices, regardless of computing platform. Now, you can work on a report on your computer, and with the flick of the Easy-Switch dial, respond to a message on your smartphone or type a tweet on your tablet – all from the Logitech Bluetooth Multi-Device Keyboard K480. Cost: $49.99 G-DRIVE ev SSD With a need for speed - take the power of the   G-DRIVE ev SSD   with you. With extreme solid-state performance connected with USB 3.0, you’ll get transfer rates up to 400MB/s. The drive comes with 512GB of storage capacity and is compatible with Mac OS 10.6, Windows 7, 8 and Vista. It comes with a three-year warranty. Use it alone or with the   G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt   and experience up to 480MB/s for the ultimate flexibility and  expand-ability  that today’s creative professionals dem...