Sandbridge develops cellphone processor

Sandbridge Technologies has developed a software-based, reprogrammable baseband processor for mobile phones, called the SB3500, for mobile phone manufacturers throughout the world, reports ZDnet.

This means phone manufacturers will be able to pack multiple technologies and functions onto a single chip. Because the chip is software programmable, the phone-makers themselves will be able to determine which technologies to support on the chip.

This should help manufacturers reduce the number of chips needed in a phone, which will ultimately reduce hardware costs and technical complexity in the devices.

Global Research, GE's technology development arm, has been awarded funding from the US Department of Homeland Security, to develop a working prototype of a mobile Standoff Radiation Imaging System, states Marketwatch.

The goal of the project is to build a prototype imaging system that can identify radioactive sources from longer distances with greater specificity, pinpointing their origins almost to an exact location.

The system will be highly sensitised to detect the weakest signs of radioactivity from a distance, while in a moving vehicle such as an SUV or cargo van.

23andMe, named Times Magazine's top invention of the year, will be demonstrated at the World Innovation Forum in New York City next May, says Marketwatch.

With the mission of democratising genomics, 23andMe provides a service that estimates one's predisposition for more than 90 traits and conditions from baldness to blindness, as well as one's propensity to contract or pass on disease - from simply submitting a saliva sample.

At the forum, 23andMe will provide an illustration of innovation in a wiki-world by demonstrating the way in which data compiled from individuals around the globe is building a universal database of genetic information with broad-based value.