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Posts Tagged ‘future tech’

CBS Uses Bluetooth-Enabled Billboards to Promote TV Shows

By Helenna Archangela on Tuesday, Sep 5th 2006 No Comments

Bluetooth Billboard CBS announced plans for a new interactive marketing campaign that uses Bluetooth enabled billboards to send video clips from the fall lineup right to your mobile devices such as a cell phones, smart phones or PDA. If you find yourself near one of these billboards, and desire to download the 30-second video clip, make sure you’re within 30 to 35. Also, make sure to accept the transmission or else you’ll be waiting a really long time for it to complete. This idea isn’t new, because it’s been implemented in Europe for years. Us darn Americans are so behind on Bluetooth technology.

Yo-Yo Powered MP3 Player Requires No Batteries

By Vincent Nguyen on Wednesday, Aug 30th 2006 No Comments

Look ma’ no batteries required for my Yo-Yo MP3 player! Well, actually not so soon, because this is still very much theoretical, and production units are still a ways off. Chris Aimone and Tomek Bartczak are the brains behind the Yo-Yo powered MP3 player. This is how it works conceptually: slap a rotor, some electromagnetic coils, permanent magnet together, combined with a firmware, a flashdrive, a circular lithium ion battery, a wireless broadcaster, along with a transparent LCD, and you’ve got the most ass kicking MP3 player on the planet! This idea is so darn good that it won the Pop Sci and Core77 award for best human powered design.

Yo Yo Powered MP3 Player

Yo Yo Powered MP3 Player [via ecogeek.org]

Video of Nokia’s Super Sexy Concept Phone

By Vincent Nguyen on Monday, Aug 28th 2006 No Comments

Daniel Meyer from Central St. Martin’s School; won Nokia’s design competition with this uber-sexy looking phone. It’s a phone by day and piece of furniture by night. It may even pass as an Apple iPhone! Great work Danny boy, you’ll grow up to be a fine designer.

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Wii to Feature Voice-Recognition?

By Benjamin Nied on Wednesday, Aug 16th 2006 No Comments

Chalk this up in the Rumor column for the time being, but the latest gossip making its way across the Web is that the Wii, which will already feature a built-in microphone on its “Wii-mote” controller, might also have some nifty voice-recognition features. While we’re not entirely sure how this will translate to the games themselves, I for one don’t see this technology being used too extensively in “normal” Wii games.

Wii

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Microsoft’s TouchLight 3D Technology

By Vincent Nguyen on Wednesday, Aug 16th 2006 5 Comments

I can’t remember the last time I’d used the word awesome, cool or wow in relation to Microsoft. Continue reading because this is TouchLight business is going to change the way we work in the not too distant future (maybe even by the end of the year, per Harnett). I’m not going to even pretend I understand this stuff, trust me just watch the video of News.com’s briefing with David Harnett, Microsoft’s senior director of IP ventures.

So what’s TouchLight technology? In simple terms, it lets you move and manipulate three-dimensional images with your hands. Click to view the demonstration after the jump.

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Here Comes the Sirius Stiletto 100 Fully-Portable Satellite Radio Receiver

By Vincent Nguyen on Tuesday, Aug 15th 2006 10 Comments

UPDATE 08/28/2006: Added hi-res image and retail product sheet, thanks to SSG for the high-resolution image of the SIRIUS Stiletto and GSI.
Oh boy – I’m getting chills down my neck as I eagerly write about the Sirius Stiletto 100. I confess that when Howard Stern moved to Sirius, I was one of the many millions that subscribed. I’ve been waiting months on in for a portable solution from Sirius. Howard and Bubba the Love Sponge (Howard 100 and 101) my dear friends, I’ll have you everywhere I go – in my car, my office, airport and yes even while I’m on the toilet.

crisp stiletto

The Sirius Stiletto 100 is a serious portable device with a bigger screen and an easy-to-use click wheel (similar to that of the iPod). Other cool features include up to 100 hours of music (MP3/WMAs), audio via WiFi connectivity. There are two batteries included with the packaging. One standard, and one extended life, which offers 4 hours of live Sirius reception, 14 hours of WiFi reception, and 22 hours of stored playback time. Yes it does sound confusing right now, but things should be cleared up closer to launch – I hope.

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Aigo F029 Digital Watch MP3 and Video Player

By Vincent Nguyen on Tuesday, Aug 15th 2006 No Comments

Since the dawn of time, the wrist is the best place to wear a watch. Sure there’s the pocket watch, but get heavy on the belt, creates a big bulge in your pocket (and it’s not the good bulge) or just inconvenience to pull in and out just to tell time. Then comes the wave of MP3-player watches that are watch centric, with an afterthought of playing music. The Aigo F029 is all about music and video. It features a 160×128 pixel resolution OLED color screen. It plays MP3 and WMA including DRM. The screen is really tiny to make any use of videos, but in any event it does support MPEG-4 video (Xvid/AVI). There’s a headphone port, mini-USB 2.0 port for transferring files back and forth, playback and navigation control buttons located on the sides. Aigo is releasing a 512MB and 1GB version in China. The price and release date is still a mystery just like the white and color plastic band.

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Why Flip The Remote Open To Flip The Channels?

By Vincent Nguyen on Saturday, Aug 12th 2006 3 Comments

Flip phone design is very popular and whether it’ll catch on as a flip remote control is yet to be seen. A remote control is just a remote control (in my opinion) – when was the last time you commented on how sexy a remote control looks or feel? I’m a lazy couch potato, so the last thing I want to do is take an extra step of flipping the remote open just to flip the stations. Vincent’s prediction on this design is crash and burn before it’ll even take off – die, die and die!

Click to view more pictures after the jump.

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Mind-controlled Wheelchair No Longer Science Fiction

By Vincent Nguyen on Friday, Aug 11th 2006 5 Comments

Mind-Control No Longer Science Fiction A team of researchers led by professor ~~Charles Xavier~~ Kazuo Tanaka from University of Electro-Communications has developed a prototype of an electric wheelchair that users can use their brain to control simply by thinking of which direction to head towards. Before taking the mind-controlled wheelchair for a stroll, you’d need strap on a skullcap outfitted with a network of sensors. The sensors interpret the users brain waves, allowing the user to control the wheelchair’s direction by thinking, “move left” or “move right.” It’s amazing that the wheelchair is 80% accurate in interpreting the users intentions and moving in the desired direction.

Don’t toss out your remote controls yet, because this mind-controlling business, still has a ways to go yet.

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Mobile Shelter for the Homeless

By Vincent Nguyen on Friday, Jul 28th 2006 No Comments

Now why didn’t I think of this? Conceptually this is a really good idea to provide an all in one mobile home if you will for the homeless. There’s an area to store and carry recyclable materials that are then sold – this is one means of supporting themselves. There’s also a “secret” bin to store their private belongings like precious crap that others threw out. I also noticed there’s an optional fold out cot; providing a place to rest after a long days journey.

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