Saturday, May 02, 2015

mobile: "Sky" (Dart on Android)

Google's team that makes programming language Dart, a part of Chrome web team,
is creating an alternative mobile GUI platform for Android, called "Sky",
Sky is not using standard Java, but Dart language.
The objective is high performance, twice higher that current fastest: 120 refreshes per second.

That is not surprising, since same person who created high-performance Java VM (hotspot)
also created JavaScript V8 engine, and then Dart programming language.
A side benefit will be removing dependence on Java, that is now closely guarded by Oracle.

Google’s Dart language on Android aims for Java-free, 120 FPS apps | Ars Technica
"Sky's Web background carries over to the mobile space. It's platform agnostic—the code can run on Android, iOS, or anything with a Dart VM. Apps work a little like websites, too. While there is a bare-bones Android APK, the majority of the app is served over HTTP, allowing for continuous deployment where everyone always runs the newest version. URLs are a base layer of DART, so everything is internet aware. The downside to this is that the demo app doesn't work when you're offline, and starting the app takes a second or two because it needs to download data. Both of these could be solved with caching, though."


Google’s ARC Beta runs Android apps on Chrome OS, Windows, Mac, and Linux | Ars Technica
In September, Google launched ARC—the "App Runtime for Chrome,"—a project that allowed Android apps to run on Chrome OS. A few days later, a hack revealed the project's full potential: it enabled ARC on every "desktop" version of Chrome, meaning you could unofficially run Android apps on Chrome OS, Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. ARC made Android apps run on nearly every computing platform (save iOS).

Actor Model, Akka.NET

Inside the Akka.NET open source project and the Actor Model with Aaron Stannard on the Hanselminutes Technology Podcast: Fresh Air for Developers
"Akka.NET is a toolkit and runtime for building highly concurrent, distributed, and fault tolerant event-driven applications on .NET & Mono. This community-driven port brings C# & F# developers the capabilities of the original Akka framework in Java/Scala. Scott talks to co-founder Aaron Stannard about the project, the Actor model, and distributed development in .NET."
"The actor model in computer science is a mathematical model of concurrent computation that treats "actors" as the universal primitives of concurrent computation: in response to a message that it receives, an actor can make local decisions, create more actors, send more messages, and determine how to respond to the next message received."


Powerwall | Tesla Motors

Watch Elon Musk announce Tesla Energy in the best tech keynote I've ever seen | The Verge


Powerwall | Tesla Motors
"Powerwall is a home battery that charges using electricity generated from solar panels, or when utility rates are low, and powers your home in the evening. It also fortifies your home against power outages by providing a backup electricity supply. Automated, compact and simple to install, Powerwall offers independence from the utility grid and the security of an emergency backup."


Technology:Wall mounted, rechargeable lithium ion battery with liquid thermal control.
Models: 10 kWh $3,500 For backup applications
7 kWh $3,000For daily cycle applications

Warranty:10 years
Efficiency: 92% round-trip DC efficiency
Power: 2.0 kW continuous, 3.3 kW peak
Voltage: 350 – 450 volts
Current: 5.8 amp nominal, 8.6 amp peak output
Weight: 220 lbs / 100 kg



Tesla's Elon Musk Unveils Stored Sunlight in Batteries - Scientific American
"Musk introduced the Tesla Powerwall, a wall-mounted lithium-ion electric battery for homes and small businesses, and the Tesla Powerpack, a heftier version of the same core product designed for utility-scale use."