A Closer Look At The Rdio Application For The HTC Sensation XL

The new HTC Sensation XL is a mobile device that boasts superior audio performance to many of its rivals thanks to the incorporation of Beats Audio technology. The handset really does excel when playing music files on the music player feature that is installed on the phone and a number of new applications that enable users to stream music to their device also benefit from this enhanced sound. We take a look at the revamped Rdio application that offers super features in this area.

Rdio has been available for several months now but many users found the interface more complicated than what was on offer with alternative applications. The developers took note of this and completely redesigned the app and the end result is very impressive. The main home page highlights tracks that are currently trending with other users and also a selection of new releases. This immediately gives users a chance to experience songs that they may not have ever heard before rather than opting to find artists and songs that they are familiar with. A number of social networking features have also been added which allow you to create your own profile and list your favourite tracks. You have the option to browse other users profiles and can even add them as a friend if they have similar musical tastes to you. This new version of the application also lets you control music playback directly from the lock screen on the Sensation XL which saves the user time and makes the whole user experience much easier.

The Rdio application for the HTC Sensation XL boasts a huge database of songs that cover all genres of music. Over 12 million individual tracks are available and users can choose whether to simply listen to their track of choice or compile a playlist that incorporates it. If you choose to make a playlist this is automatically available every time you log into the service. Rdio is a subscription based service but for a relatively small monthly outlay you have access to a massive selection of music. Once you have signed up you can even access the service from a PC or laptop so you can download music from the site and edit playlists that you have already created. If you find yourself hooked to the service there are even devices available that let you access the facilities on a television while linked to a home audio centre to give you the ultimate sound experience.

The new Rdio application offers some useful new features that make using the service a real pleasure. A massive selection of music is available and the new social features further enhance the appeal of the application. The HTC Sensation XL is the perfect mobile device to use with this service as the audio performance enables you to enjoy your music in the highest possible quality.

The HTC Sensation XL and the HTC Sensation XE are available now.

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Physicists move one step closer to quantum computer

ScienceDaily (Oct. 4, 2011) — Rice University physicists have created a tiny "electron superhighway" that could one day be useful for building a quantum computer, a new type of computer that will use quantum particles in place of the digital transistors found in today's microchips.

In a recent paper in Physical Review Letters, Rice physicists Rui-Rui Du and Ivan Knez describe a new method for making a tiny device called a "quantum spin Hall topological insulator." The device, which acts as an electron superhighway, is one of the building blocks needed to create quantum particles that store and manipulate data.

Today's computers use binary bits of data that are either ones or zeros. Quantum computers would use quantum bits, or "qubits," which can be both ones and zeros at the same time, thanks to the quirks of quantum mechanics.

This quirk gives quantum computers a huge edge in performing particular types of calculations, said Du, professor of physics and astronomy at Rice. For example, intense computing tasks like code-breaking, climate modeling and biomedical simulation could be completed thousands of times faster with quantum computers.

"In principle, we don't need many qubits to create a powerful computer," he said. "In terms of information density, a silicon microprocessor with 1 billion transistors would be roughly equal to a quantum processor with 30 qubits."

In the race to build quantum computers, researchers are taking a number of approaches to creating qubits. Regardless of the approach, a common problem is making certain that information encoded into qubits isn't lost over time due to quantum fluctuations. This is known as "fault tolerance."

The approach Du and Knez are following is called "topological quantum computing." Topological designs are expected to be more fault-tolerant than other types of quantum computers because each qubit in a topological quantum computer will be made from a pair of quantum particles that have a virtually immutable shared identity. The catch to the topological approach is that physicists have yet to create or observe one of these stable pairs of particles, which are called "Majorana fermions" (pronounced MAH-yor-ah-na FUR-mee-ons).

The elusive Majorana fermions were first proposed in 1937, although the race to create them in a chip has just begun. In particular, physicists believe the particles can be made by marrying a two-dimensional topological insulator -- like the one created by Du and Knez -- to a superconductor.

Topological insulators are oddities; although electricity cannot flow through them, it can flow around their narrow outer edges. If a small square of a topological insulator is attached to a superconductor, Knez said, the elusive Majorana fermions are expected to appear precisely where the materials meet. If this proves true, the devices could potentially be used to generate qubits for quantum computing, he said.

Knez spent more than a year refining the techniques to create Rice's topological insulator. The device is made from a commercial-grade semiconductor that's commonly used in making night-vision goggles. Du said it is the first 2-D topological insulator made from a material that physicists already know how to attach to a superconductor.

"We are well-positioned for the next step," Du said. "Meanwhile, only experiments can tell whether we can find Majorana fermions and whether they are good candidates for creating stable qubits."

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, Rice University, the Hackerman Advanced Research Program, the Welch Foundation and the Keck Foundation.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Rice University.

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Journal Reference:

Ivan Knez, Rui-Rui Du, Gerard Sullivan. Evidence for Helical Edge Modes in Inverted InAs/GaSb Quantum Wells. Physical Review Letters, 2011; 107 (13) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.136603

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