Google scholarships recognize 84 computer science scholars in Europe, Middle East, and Africa

We’d like to recognize and congratulate the 84 recipients and finalists of the Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship and Google Scholarship for Students with Disabilities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The full list of the 2013 scholars and finalists and the universities they attend can be found in this PDF.



Both scholarships aim to encourage underrepresented students to enter the computing field. The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship honours the memory of Dr. Anita Borg who devoted her life to encouraging the presence of women in computing; we recently announced the U.S. recipients of this scholarship. The Google Europe Scholarship for Students with Disabilities aims to help dismantle barriers for students with disabilities as well as encourage them to excel in their studies and become active role models and leaders in creating technology.



All of the students receiving the scholarships are pursuing degrees in computer science or related fields at universities across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This summer, they’ll attend the annual Google EMEA Scholarships Retreat in Zurich, where they’ll have the opportunity to attend tech talks on Google products, participate in developmental sessions, network with Googlers and attend social activities. Notable speakers at the 2013 retreat include Alan Eustace, SVP of Knowledge, Megan Smith, VP of Google [x], and Carolyn Casey, Founder of Kanchi.org.



Applications for the scholarships will be open again in just a few short months. Learn more about how the scholarships impacted the lives of previous recipients:







For more information on all of our scholarships and programs, please visit the Google Students site.



Posted by Efrat Aghassy, EMEA scholarships program manager



via The Official Google Blog http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/google-scholarships-recognize-84.html

Windows 8 Confronts Major Hurdle While Preparing for the Tablet

Amid a lot of criticism for a lot of its actions, Microsoft is to be praised for its bold approach towards the tablet market with Windows 8. It redesigned the biggest OS in history entirely, and this was sure to surprise a lot of people out there. However, the big strides are now being looked at as a huge gamble that is not likely to pay off.

Is Windows 8 more suitable for PCs or tablets?

Out of a myriad of possibilities, there is one that seems to be the biggest obstacle to Windows 8 success with the Tablet. Windows 8′s design is such that it is meant to handle both desktop and tablets, but it’s the tablet that they want to cash in on.

The tablet market has been growing rapidly while the PC market has been shrinking, and it’s no wonder why Microsoft wants to cash in on the opportunity with Windows 8. However, this is yet to happen.

It is thought that Windows 8 may have made a huge error in trying to tweak it for the PC as well as the Tablet. Although it may have had the capability to succeed both ways, it is believed that issues experienced by users in terms of their troubles using Windows may have played a part in preventing success with the Tablet.

Why Windows 8 Has Fallen Short of Meeting Tablet Consumer Demands

By centering all its attention on going both ways, with the Tablet and the PC, it may have included too many things for the Tablet. While consumers want the Tablet to do everything they need it to do, they don’t want an entire PC on their Tablet. To put it simply, when consumers look out for the Tablets, they are not looking out for anything like Windows running it.

The major point to make is that when consumers are shopping for a Tablet, they are looking out for something that is a big phone rather than a small PC. Consumers want to be able to do almost the same things that they do on their phones, but they enjoy all that on bigger screen. That’s just how they want it. While the Tablet may be equipped to perform a plethora of things akin to a PC, it should really give a consumer the experience of using a CP.

One can easily see the difference between delivering the desktop to the tablet and delivering the phone to a tablet. Therefore, no matter what level of success that Microsoft attains with Windows 8, it is Windows 8.1 that seems likelier to meet consumer demands for the tablet.

Microsoft has been putting in a lot of effort when it comes to rectifying Windows 8 for the PC. Trying to do the same for the tablet is a going to be a stretch, and it’s probably a good idea to achieve this with Windows 8.1. It will serve as a separate introduction on its own and perhaps be more appealing to consumers.

[Image via windows8center]

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Cisco Unveil New Tech to Double Internet Speed

Internet traffic is constantly on the rise, being likely to triple in the next five years. In order to cope with the growing demand, American networking equipment giant Cisco has unveiled some new technology designed to double Internet speed.

The company premiered the new core router technology last week, underlining that the routers will help ISPs and wireless carriers to offer their customers impressive speed for streaming videos, social networking and downloading apps at the same time.

The new routers, also known as the CRS-X, are designed to provide speeds of up to 400GB per second per slot. Every core router rack can be scaled up to 6.4TB per second, the entire system being able to offer almost 1 petabit per second.

To put it briefly: that is double the speed of any other similar products on the market. Cisco explained that one CRS-X router would be able to provide HV video streaming to every person in New York at the same time. A full setup can download the Library of Congress in a second. Which is quite impressive.

The CRS-X will be available later this year. Cisco said it has already received orders for the core router, with U.S. Verizon Wireless and Japan’s SoftBank planning to use the new routing technology.

Besides the insane speed, the CRS-X will also be able to handle four times more traffic and ten times more data than the CRS-3, the company’s previous core router, launched in 2010. Customers who already use the CRS-3 can easily upgrade to CRS-X simply by swapping out their cards.

Core routers are a crucial element of the Internet’s backbone, being in charge of connecting Internet users’ requests to websites such as Google, Facebook, Netflix, etc, and then relaying the data back to the users. Cisco holds about 65 percent of the core router market.

What do you think of the new technology? How excited are you about Cisco’s plans to double Internet speed?

[Image via lionnelweb]

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F-Bike: First Flying Prototype Gets Off the Ground

The dream to fly a smaller vehicle able to land anywhere has been shared by many people over the decades. Now, this is closer to reality with the first test flight of the F-Bike being a complete success.

But what is the F-Bike? It is a noisy, yet light custom-built flying bike operated by remote control that has been officially dubbed as the first two-wheeled airborne vehicle. The project was developed by three Czech researchers’ companies with support from France’s Dassault Systemes, a world leader in the creation of 3D design software.

The research team from the companies Technodat, Evektor and Duratec tested the remarkably light vehicle in a remote controlled flight around a warehouse in Prague, during a press conference. Riding the prototype was a dummy.

The flying vehicle is equipped with six horizontal rotors, drawing power of about 47 kilowatts from several on-board batteries. The basic idea behind this prototype was to get a smaller flying vehicle able of up to 5 minute independent flight and carry no more than 180 pounds of weight for now. The limited time of flight for the F-bike is due to limits in today’s battery technology, according to the researchers. The vehicle weighs 209 pounds and looks like a heavier mountain bike.

The project was initiated in 2011 and it was originally meant to be an electric bike, but the team later on decided this was to be a more ambitious project. The researchers were admittedly inspired by the visionary works of Jules Verne and a less known Czech author named Jaroslav Foglar.

There is no profit motive yet behind this project, as the creators don’t intend to mass- produce and sell the prototype. The team is yet to set a date for a human passenger test flight. During the test press conference, the Czech researchers said the human flying test will likely happen towards the end of the summer.

[Image via dvice]

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