Communications Media

New research from the University of Alberta has found that an online business can benefit from listing its competitors’ products, even if some of those comparisons are unfavourable for the firm.

Dr. Gerald Haeubl, the Banister professor of electronic commerce at the U of A’s School of Business, investigated how digital agents, such as the Internet, influence the online shopping experience. Surprisingly, he found that when a company lists its competitors’ prices of identical products—even if

Study also reports users lose trust in systems that give phony ratings Online “recommender systems” are used to suggest highly rated selections for book buyers, movie renters or other consumers, but a new study by University of Minnesota computer science researchers shows for the first time that a system that lies about ratings can manipulate users’ opinions. Over time, however, users lose trust in unscrupulous systems. The Minnesota research group, led by professors Jos

A new group of ceramic materials could lead to more reliable and clearer microwave communication signals, according to engineers at South Bank University, London, speaking at the Institute of Physics Congress at Heriot-Watt University on Wednesday 26 March.

A small ceramic component made from a dielectric material is fundamental to the operation of filters and oscillators in several microwave systems, such as satellite TV receivers, military radar systems, Global Positioning System (GPS) dev

Industry experts at Search Engine Watch recently named Vivísimo the Web’s Best Meta-Search Engine for its ability to instantly organize search results into a computer-generated “index.” The software behind Vivísimo’s search engine can also be applied to any collection of documents, in languages ranging from English and German to Arabic and Korean.

A success story from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research and computer science programs, Vivísimo’s Web site

ESA engineers are proposing a technique to enable a digital satellite radio service for European drivers – without the need to launch a single new satellite into orbit.

Commercial digital satellite radio is already a reality in the United States, using a costly set of dedicated satellites. The rival American services allow subscribing drivers to choose between numerous near-CD quality radio channels without tune-out or static.
Two parallel ESA studies have examined a lower-cost method o

Report envisions a future cyberinfrastructure that will “radically empower” the science and engineering community

The critical needs of science and rapid progress in information technology are converging to provide a unique opportunity to create and apply a sustained cyberinfrastructure that will “radically empower” scientific and engineering research and allied education, according to the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Advisory Committee for Cyberinfrastructure. The committee