World's tiniest digital camera

Intelligent services often disguise a camera as pens, earings or spectacles.

But how about a camera small enough to be inserted into your blood veins? There is a digital camera called NanEye that measure just 1 millimetre by 1 millimetre, essentially smaller than the tip of a pencil.


The NanEye CSP

Rapidly evolving camera technology has made it swivel for AWAIBA, a Portuguese imaging technology company and the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration in Germany to invent the world's tiniest digital camera, the NanEye CSP. The camera, which is built on a silicon chip and measures only 1mm x 1mm x 1.5mm, is smaller than the size of a wooden match. The camera is capable of providing clear high resolution images with its 250 x 250 pixel feature.

The NanEye sensor which can be used in endoscopic devices, will provide a smooth video leading to a more precise diagnosis. Patients will not have to worry about pain or trauma as the size of the camera allows for a safe and high quality medical probe to be produced.

Due to a new type of manufacturing process, the camera costs little to produce. Thus, this cheap new camera may soon pave the way for disposable endoscopy instruments. At the moment, the the endoscopy instruments in the medical field require exhaustive and time consuming cleaning procedures.

The world's tiniest camera, the NanEye CPS is smaller than the tip of a pencil

Greenest Convention Centre in the world

Scheduled to host the UN Climate Change Conference starting November 26 this year, the Qatar National Convention Centre, QNCC, is considered as one of the greenest convention centers in the world.


The convention centre is designed by Japanese designer Arata Isozaki, and it features iconic facade of intertwining native Sidra trees, representing the place where poets, scholars and travellers gathered to take shelter from the fierce desert sun and interact.


Oil rich nation going green

It seem a little odd to mention Green buildings in this tiny Gulf nation which has plenty of oil and gas and, according to the International Energy Agency, has the highest per capita emissions in the world, closely followed by Gulf neighbors Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

But Associated Press said attitudes about energy use are changing across the Gulf. There is a growing recognition that the once seemingly limitless fossil fuels will someday run out and that these countries need to chart a more sustainable path. Buildings are a logical place to start.

Amazing!

Solar PV on the rooftop

The Qatar National Convention Centre

Location                             : In Qatar Foundation's 2,500-acre campus
Year built                            : 2011
Cost                                   : $720 million (estimates according to inhabitat.com)
Meeting room space            : 10,000 m2
Conference room capacity   : 4,000 delegates
Green buildings certification : U.S. Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED)
Solar power                        : 3,500 m2 solar panels provides 12.5% of the building's energy needs


Photos by AP via Yahoo Finance

Rebates for 3G Smartphones in January 2013

The government is ready to implement the granting of a RM200 rebate for the purchase of the 3G smart mobile phones to youths between the ages of 21 and 30 beginning Jan 1, 2013.

Take your pick!

The one-off rebate was announced by Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak, when tabling the 2013 Budget on September 28th for youths to purchase a 3G smartphone to help them access the information superhighway.

In a recent report by Bernama, Information, Communications and Culture Minister, Rais Yatim said he was confident the programme could be implemented without any problem due to the well-planned preparations made by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

However, the ministry was scrutinising the actual meaning of the term 'smartphone' used and the price rate that would qualify the buyer to receive the cash rebate.

"When this has been carried out, I feel there is no problem any more (to implement the rebate). Many people have asked, so we want to give ample space for them to contact the MCMC directly or the shops and agents that have been registered," he said.


Prone to abuse?

It is a noble intention on the part of the government to help the masses - especially the younger generation - better access to information but I can see how people will try to abuse this facility. On a positive note, because of the possible loopholes, the RM200 rebate amount is just nice - not too small and at the same time not much such that it poses significant risk to the government's wallet. 

It is an open secret that the EPF Computer Withdrawal scheme some time ago was riddled with abuses. Contributors tried every means and ways to make the most to get cash rather than laptops. I got mine for RM3,999 and felt it was never worth it. The Compaq Presario was powered by a humble Celeron 600 MHz with many features at minimum specifications. In all honesty, even at that time, for that price you'd expect no less than a Pentium 1.5 GHz processor.

Without clear guidelines from MCMC, this rebate is just another accident waiting to happen. Both retailers and consumers would collaborate to create a 'win-win' situation.

Believe me, with a rebate of RM200, there is a lot to gain from the sale of a RM500/pc smartphone. The sooner you come up with the guidelines the better!