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MIT and Texas Instruments Detail Energy-Efficient Microchip

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 4, 2008 - 12:57pm.

Cambridge, Mass. - Researchers at MIT and Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) have developed a new chip design for portable electronics that can be up to ten times more energy-efficient than present technology, according to an announcement on Monday. The key to the improvement in energy efficiency was to find ways of making the circuits on the chip work at a voltage level much lower than usual, according to the announcement. "While most current chips operate at around 1 volt, the new design works at just 0.3 volts. The design could lead to cell phones, implantable medical devices and sensors that last far longer when running from a battery" the announcement states.

tags: Mobile | Texas Instruments | Cellphones | MIT | Semiconductors |

MIT Gets $50 Million Gift for Entrepreneurship Center

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 17, 2007 - 7:55am.

Cambridge, Mass. - Legatum, a private investment firm that focuses on initiatives to support sustainable development, has made a gift of $50 million to MIT to create a new center for development and entrepreneurship.

tags: Deals | VC | MIT | Investments | Legatum |

Maryland Public TV Taps FableVision for Online Education Game

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 1, 2007 - 1:16pm.

Owings Mills, Md. - Maryland Public Television (MPT) said on Thursday that it has hired Boston-based educational media producer FableVision to develop an online math and literacy game aimed at students in upper elementary and middle school grades. FableVision is collaborating with MPT and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to produce the software game, which is part of MPT's Learning Games To Go initiative -- the centerpiece of a $15 million grant awarded from the U.S. Department of Education Star Schools program.

tags: Games | TV | Education | Children | MIT | FableVision |

MIT Researchers Unveil New "Friendspotting" Social Networking Technology

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 14, 2006 - 1:13pm.

Cambridge, Mass. - Researchers at MIT on Thursday unveiled a new social networking system that makes it possible for anyone on the 168-acre campus to locate anyone else (who chooses to be found) through their laptop, using Wi-Fi access points.

tags: Social Networking | MIT | Friendspotting |

Media Lab Founded by Ireland and MIT to Close Doors

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 18, 2005 - 8:23am.
Dublin -- Media Lab Europe, an Ireland-based research facility founded by the Irish government and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), recently announced that it will shut down due to financial difficulties. The lab said it made the decision after failing to raise another $13 million from the Government, which has already poured more than $45.6 million into the project. In the past, the lab has relied investment from both the public and private sectors, securing millions of euro from the likes of Orange, Eircom, AOL and Ericsson. It was hoped that the lab would be eventually become self-sustaining using revenue from patents and licenses, but financial support has dwindled. Industry experts say the news could strike a serious blow to Ireland's efforts to attract more technology investment, as the lab, established five years ago to promote Irish research, had been set to become the centerpiece of the capital's digital hub business zone.
tags: Ireland | Media Lab | MIT | Close Doors |

MIT, Video Game Trade Group to Host Conference on Games in Education

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2003 - 7:25am.
Cambridge, Mass. -- The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Comparative Media Studies department announced on Tuesday that it will hold a conference on the grounds of the 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo video game convention, in conjunction with industry trade group the Entertainment Software Association. The three-day "Education Arcade Conference," taking place before the exhibition floor opens, will focus on the use of video games in education. "While historically educational games have been a bit like a spinach sundae -- not very tasty and not very good for you either -- more and more people are discovering the pedagogical potentials of games. The goal is to get educators and industry people talking and working together to see what we can build in the coming few years," said Henry Jenkins III, director of MIT Comparative Media Studies.
tags: Games | Education | Conference | Video Game | MIT |

MIT Halts Campus Cable TV Music Service Over Copyright Concerns

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 3, 2003 - 8:48am.
Cambridge, Mass. -- An online music service that used MIT's campus-wide analog cable TV network to deliver songs to students' TVs and stereos has been temporarily taken offline, following objections over licensing from providers including Universal Music Group. The Library Access to Music Project (LAMP) launched last week, having obtained streaming versions of 3,500 CDs from Loudeye Technologies, which the school assumed had obtained the necessary licenses. The school also holds public performing licenses from ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. The LAMP website states the service "was designed to operate in full compliance with the law and to respect the rights of all copyright holders," and that, "Loudeye assured us on multiple occasions that the content they provided to us was prepared fully under authorization from the record labels and on behalf of the publishers." MIT was notified by Loudeye after LAMP's launch that it may have been mistaken, and the school has since received a request from major label Universal to remove its songs from the service. "We are therefore temporarily suspending the LAMP service while we pursue clarifying discussions with Loudeye, the record labels, and music publishers," reads a note on the LAMP website.
tags: Music | Cable TV | Copyright | MIT |

L.A. Times: MIT Music Service Asked to Remove Universal's Songs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 31, 2003 - 8:58am.
Los Angeles -- A new MIT campus music service, which looked to sidestep added royalty payments by distributing music over the school's analog cable TV network, has had to remove one major label's music, The Los Angeles Times reported. MIT's Library Access to Music Project (LAMP), invented by two students at the university, lets users trade-off playing DJ by choosing songs from 3,500 CDs, provided in digital form by Seattle-based Loudeye Technologies. It was Loudeye which did not have permission to distribute the tracks to MIT, said Universal Music Group, when it asked the school to remove UMG songs from the LAMP service. While MIT said it thought Loudeye had the appropriate licenses, Loudeye said it simply provided MIT with files and the school was then responsible for securing necessary licenses. "It is unfortunate that MIT launched a service in an attempt to avoid paying recording artists, union musicians and record labels. Loudeye recognized that they had no right to deliver Universal's music to the MIT service, and MIT acted responsibly by removing the music," Kelly Mullens, a spokeswoman for Universal Music, told The Times.
tags: L.A. Times | Music Service | MIT | Universal's Songs |

MIT Students Create Online Music Network Using Campus Cable TV System

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 27, 2003 - 10:13am.
Cambridge, Mass. -- Two students at MIT have created what they believe to be a legal means for students to access digital music on demand through the campus's cable television network. The Library Access to Music Project (LAMP), created by MIT students Keith Winstein and Josh Mandel, allows faculty and students to choose songs to listen to from an online library and play them through stereos or TVs, but does not permit downloading or copying. By using the school's analog cable TV system, LAMP appears to take advantage of less-stringent copyright laws and fall under licenses the school already pays to performing rights organizations. The streaming songs LAMP uses are being provided by Seattle-based Loudeye Technologies, which has licenses from all five major record labels. The system features 16 channels of pre-programmed radio, and lets users become the DJ and program 80-minute programming blocks from the 3,500 CDs in the LAMP library. Winstein and Mandel plan to publish the Linux software that powers LAMP for free so that other schools may implement similar systems. LAMP was funded by iCampus, a research alliance between MIT and Microsoft Research focused on furthering education through faculty and student technology projects.
tags: Internet | Cable TV | Campus | MIT |