• Multi-touch control search-and-rescue robot swarms

    The new Dream controller for Microsoft Surface could help speed up search-and-rescue operations; . when disaster strikes, search-and-rescue teams must quickly gather and assimilate the data needed to find survivors; a team of robots can help scout out for persons stuck in rubble or create new maps of the landscape; first responders, though, need ways to control those robots, and process incoming information quickly

  • Ford faces competition for next-generation cruiser

    Ford has long dominated the police car market with about 70 percent of the 75,000 police cars sold annually; the Dearborn automaker, however, will stop producing the Crown Victoria next August and is replacing it with the far more modern Police Interceptor; Ford is facing competition from a redesigned Dodge Charger Pursuit police car and the return of the General Motors’ Chevrolet Caprice police car

  • NYPD buys new portable fingerprint scanners

    The NYPD is armed with a portable fingerprint reader that allows cops immediately to confirm identities at crime scenes with the roll of a thumb; they can also be used to identify the dead at homicide and accident scenes; the NYPD has become increasingly dependent on technology, a move that has helped it offset a decrease in the size of the force; there are about 6,000 fewer officers than there were in 2001