Category: VOA Technology Report

Today we tell about some of the top technology developments of the last ten years. The technological revolution is changing the way we work and play. Mobile phones became smartphones, with abilities like computers. Many people started reading books on electronic readers. Televisions became high-definition and the screens became flat. Digital music players got smaller …

A report by the Consumer Electronics Association says electronics were among the most popular gifts bought this holiday season. It also predicted that spending on these devices would set new records. The CEA said consumers were expected to spend an average of about two hundred thirty dollars on electronics. This is five percent more than …

Representatives from some of the world’s leading broadband service providers and equipment manufacturers met in San Diego, California in December. They talked about the future of broadband and the Internet Protocols that govern it. Broadband is a high data rate connection to the Internet. A group called Broadband Forum organized the meeting. It was the …

Mobile phone technology is quickly changing the way the world operates. Today, we tell about two new projects involving mobile health, also known as m-health. Doctors and technology experts in London are developing a new way to test for sexual infections. The new device uses mobile phones and computers to help people find out if …

A new website plans to use social media to help women in Egypt fight unwanted sexual attention. The website is harassmap.org. The idea is to offer different ways for women to report sexual harassment as soon as it happens. For example, they could send a text message by phone. Or they could report incidents directly …

High-quality systems used in video conferencing are called telepresence systems. The images are life-size yet not truly lifelike. They lack the depth that people would normally see if they were in the same room together. But this could change in the future with new kinds of three-dimensional telepresence systems. Last week, we told you about …

A hologram is a three-dimensional image — an image that appears to have height, width and depth.More than thirty years ago, Princess Leia gave her famous holographic plea for help in the original “Star Wars” movie. Since then, holograms have become bigger, better and more widely used. Now, researchers have developed a holographic telepresence system. …

The world has almost seven billion people. At least two billion are expected to be on the Internet by January. New growth is mostly from developing countries. Yet only twenty-one percent of their population is online. A group called the World Wide Web Foundation is working to make the Web more usable to more of …

Each year, Americans throw away millions of tons of electronic devices. That means business is good for a small electronics recycler in Chantilly, Virginia.Company President Jeremy Faber established PC Recycler. He spoke to us from the floor of his company’s processing center. Workers were busy taking apart televisions, cell phones and computers — anything electronic. …

Before we changed the name, we went on our Facebook page and asked for story ideas. Some of you suggested that we talk about ICT, information and communication technology.Well, the International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations agency, released its latest ICT Facts and Figures report in October. Since two thousand five, the number of Internet …

The latest Global Hunger Index report says the number of hungry people worldwide has fallen twenty-five percent since ninety ninety. Last year the estimate topped one billion people for the first time. But this year’s report says the number of people not getting enough to eat has fallen to nine hundred twenty-five million. Still, many …

International donors have promised almost twelve billion dollars to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.The Global Fund held a two-day conference in October in New York City. This is the largest pledge the eight-year-old organization has ever received. Stefan Emblad is the director of resource mobilization. He said the fund received a …

Sunday, October tenth, was World Mental Health Day. This year’s observance centered on the relationship between mental health and chronic physical conditions like diabetes and cancer. The World Health Organization says more than four hundred fifty million people suffer from poor mental health. The most common disorders are depression and schizophrenia. Mental health experts also …

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has announced a plan to get cleaner-burning cooking stoves into developing countries. The plan aims to reduce deaths caused by smoke from the traditional use of solid fuels and open fires. Almost half the world’s people breathe smoke from coal and biomass fuels like wood, dung and crop waste. The …

Last week we told you about FAILFaire, an event where people talk about international development projects that failed. Many of these projects started as good ideas. Others had some level of success, but not enough to have a measurable effect on the lives of people in developing countries.A nonprofit group in New York City called …

Week after week, we bring you stories about projects to improve lives in the developing world. Projects like banking by mobile phone or low-cost lighting systems or even a toilet bag that recycles itself into fertilizer. But for every success story, there are countless other projects that fail. These are the stories that people talk …

Today we have the second of two reports explaining how to prepare fish by drying or smoking them.We talked last week about the first steps of cleaning and salting freshly caught fish. The directions can be found on our website, voaspecialenglish.com. To dry fish, you will need either a drying table or a place to …

I’m Alex Villarreal with the VOA Special English Development Report. There are different ways to store fish. Two ways to keep fish for future use are canning and freezing. Two other methods are drying and smoking. Today we have the first of two reports describing, step by step, how to prepare dried or smoked fish. …

The World Health Organization says obesity rates are rising in Pacific island countries. So, too, are health problems linked to being overweight. The WHO says a major reason for the rising obesity rates is an increase in imported foods. It says many Pacific islanders have replaced their traditional diets of vegetables and fruits with imported …

Humanitarian aid groups have promised to continue their work in Afghanistan after militants murdered ten medical aid workers August fifth. Officials say the seven men and three women worked for the Christian aid group, International Assistance Mission. They were returning to Kabul after a trip to Nuristan province to provide medical care and supplies. Those …