Archive for February, 2005
‘Digital Divide’ Narrowing Fast, World Bank Says “The digital divide is rapidly closing,” the report said. “People in the developing world are getting more access at an incredible rate — far faster than they got access to new technologies in the past.” Half the world’s population now enjoys access to a fixed-line telephone, the report said, and 77 percent to a mobile network — surpassing a WSIS campaign goal that calls for 50 percent access by 2015.”
Reuters.com
MP-O2-OTG Media Drive Book. “It’s not quite the Hitchhiker’s Guide, but the new MP-O2-OTG is a pretty slick little portable media drive enclosure. Not only does it look like a book (for easy hiding in your wood-paneled study), it decodes a variety of audio and video formats via VGA and component connections.”
Gizmodo
Europeans see artificial eyes by 2010. “The device works by relaying signals from an eyeglass-mounted digital camera to the optic nerve. According to reports, 15 teams of researchers are working on related projects throughout Europe, and the European Commission expects a commercial version to be available by 2008 or 2010. Veraart puts the price of the device at around $20,000.”
Engadget
Solar Tower of Power Finds Home. “Announced several years ago, the 3,280-foot Solar Tower is one of the most ambitious alternative energy projects on the planet: a renewable energy plant that pumps out the same power as a small reactor but is totally safe. If built, it will be nearly double the height of the world’s tallest structure, the CN Tower in Canada.”
Wired News
VOIP At 80 MPH: RoamAD, WiVOD Claim World’s Wold’s First Wi-Fi Highway. “In a live demo users were able to make multi-party VOIP conference calls at over 80 miles per hour across the network.
[...] Initially the network will serve police, fire, ambulance and US Border Patrol operations. Later, according to RoamAD, other “community agencies, schools, business and local residents” will be added as the network expands.”
Extreme Tech
Talking dolls for Japanese senior citizens. “Talking toys have become such a hit that some elderly people have embraced them as substitutes for the children who have grown old and deserted entire neighborhoods in the rapidly greying country.”
Boing Boing
greasemonkey. “Greasemonkey is a Firefox extension which lets you to add bits of DHTML (“user scripts”) to any webpage to change it’s behavior. [...] For example you could:
Make sure that all URLs displayed in the browser are clickable links. Improve the usability of a site you frequent. Route around common and annoying website bugs.”
mozdev.org
Students Develop Head Tilt Mouse. “Cursor movement is based on the user tilting their head or pointing with their tongue in the direction they want to go. When they settle on a program or web page to open, the program reads eye blinks as double clicks.”
Gizmodo
Losing your phone: the fear. “Apparently one in three women surveyed by Intervoice believe if they lost their phones – their address books, in all reality – that they’d lose contact with people entirely.”
Engadget
Globe-jungle. “Kids can play during the day on the rotating climbing frame. One camera records their play, while another records their surroundings from inside the globe. These two perspectives of the globe constitute the images archive. After sundown, this footage is projected onto the bars of the globe. By spinning the frame the bars become a surface reflecting the images.”
we make money not art
The Abe BT 80C Bluetooth Stereo Cassette. “What we’re talking about is the Abe BT 80C, an audio cassette adapter that you can pop into your car’s tape deck and stream music to from your Bluetooth-enabled MP3 player, handheld, or PC.”
Engadget
Public library lends out book-filled iPod Shuffles. “We have it on good word that the South Huntington Public Library in Suffolk County, New York, is doing just that. They apparently have a handful of Shuffles, pre-loaded with books, and are planning to add more.”
Engadget
Software learns to translate by reading up. “The key to their “statistical machine translation software” are the translation dictionaries, patterns and rules – translation parameters – that the program develops. It does this by creating many different possible translation parameters based on previously translated documents and then ranking them probabilistically.”
New Scientist
The Fido wireless infrared doggie-cam system. “The system wirelessly transmits audio and video (with an infrared option) to Policemen outside during dangerous search operations where the highly trained cute little puppers are considered, erm, more expendable than a person.”
Engadget
Software gives descriptive directions. “The system generates a graphical route map, then produces written directions from the map, using phrases like “turn right at the end of the hallway” or “walk through the doorway into the lounge.” Besides, “you will see” phrases assure a person is headed in the right direction.”
we make money not art
Future Parking. “It is reported than 1,000 or more parking meters throughout the CBD will be replaced with new solar powered meters capable of accepting payment via a mobile phone or credit card. The meters will also send an SMS to the motorist warning them that their meter is soon to expire.”
PSFK
Opera Offers Voice Controls for Television. “Opera Software ASA (the web browser folks) has announced their new voice-enabled Electronic Program Guide, allowing people to control their DVD players, DVRs and digital TV boxes via voice.”
Gizmodo
The Web Not the Death of Language. “Traditional linguists fear the internet damages our ability to articulate properly, infusing language with LOLs, dorky emoticons and the gauche sharing of personal information on blogs. But some researchers believe we have entered a new era of expression.”
Wired News
Girl Friday. “GF will be Australia’s and possibly the world’s first mobile cam girl. She is a live action character who on the surface appears ‘real’ but in fact is a fictional part of the GF interactive world. Her story reflects the way devices (such as your mobile) are changing the way we communicate in everyday life. As GF tries to deal with the sagas of career, love and family we journey with her as a friend and confidant.”
Girl Friday
Mobi the Way Forward. “Mobi-tickets – a fairly new application that enables a barcode to be read from your phone via an standard bar code reader. The usage? There are a whole host of usages for this. Entrance to parties and accepting promotions at bars or events will never be the same. A simple text beforehand and a scan at the door – no paperwork involved. No tickets lost in the post.”
PSFK
Haute Tech. “And if fashion is going high-tech — with smarter bags; little cases for MP3 players; colorful ”skins” that snap on to laptops; and loops, lariats and chains to keep hold of cell phones — technology is going high-fashion. Hewlett-Packard is sponsoring Proenza Schouler; Nokia is sponsoring Zac Posen.”
The New York Times (may require free registration)
Holograms Poised to Feed Bio Data. “Prototypes have already been made for contact lenses that monitor glucose levels, thin badges that detect alcohol levels, and sticks that can tell, instantly, if milk has spoiled or become contaminated. The technology promises to be quicker and cheaper than tests used today. It will also require less training, because the hologram itself can be designed to show results graphically.”
EWeek
NTT RedTacton Human Area Network. “NTT announces Human Area Networking technology Research Project called RedTacton, that safely turns the surface of the human body into a data transmission path at speeds up to 10 Mbps between any two points on the body.
Using a novel electro-optic sensor, NTT has already developed a small PCMCIA card-sized prototype RedTacton transceiver. Instead of relying on electromagnetic waves or light waves to carry data, RedTacton uses weak electric fields on the surface of the body as a transmission medium.”
I4U News
Storage solutions of the future. “We just cannot get enough storage space. All of the well established storage methods are evolving to accommodate our needs. They are becoming more compact and taking on more data, even as developers are planning the next generation, and the one after that.”
BBC NEWS
SmarterChild IM bot. “SmarterChild is an IM bot (automated responder) that can give you weather forecasts, word definitions, ASCII art, and foreign language translations, just to start.”
Lifehacker
.dot .dot .dot Bluetooth Display. “NYU’s .dot.dot.dot project is developing an app for Bluetooth enabled phones that transfers images to a small, wearable LED screen. Users create an image from red dots on their phone and then broadcast the image to the display for all to see.”
Gizmodo
Rambling robots show human efficiency. “The most advanced commercial robots, including Honda’s humanoid bot, Asimo, typically require a multitude of motors and sensors in each joint – as well as powerful adaptive software – to remain steady while walking. But the new bots instead use simple mechanical dynamics and minimal motorisation to stride along. The shape of each robot’s frame and joints naturally enable them to walk along without requiring much exertion. A similar fundamental simplicity underlies the way in which humans walk.”
New Scientist
ZigBee “Panic Button” Calls For Help. “The pendant, which is worn around the neck, includes an array of accelerometers, buttons on the front and back, and a low-power Zigbee radio. If a rapid acceleration is detected (such as when someone falls over), or the two buttons are pressed in tandem, the pendant connects to an intelligent controller – which then contacts one of four alerting and monitoring companies, or contacts a family member directly.”
Extreme Tech
The Thrill Measuring Device. “Brendan Walker, from the Royal College of Art, recently designed and built a body-mounted machine that detects thrill levels and takes a snapshot of your face during peak moments.”
Engadget
Philips new HDD093 and HDD095 shuffles with Like Music. “It’s called Like Music, and as the name implies if you engage it while listening to a song it’ll pseudo-randomly and intelligently shuffle you up 20 more tracks that it thinks sounds similar to what’s on (apparently it uses 40 metrics to grab tracks with a familiar beat, instument lineup, and tempo).”
Engadget
The musical curtain. “Each bead, when touched, lights itself and emits a unique sound. People play with the curtain by weaving their hands through it, touching it with their faces, and moving through it with their body.”
we make money not art
The Wireless, Battery-less Light Switch. “EnOcean, a Siemens spin-off, is developing a fully wireless light (or any other device) switch, no batteries required. Using a piezoelectric generator, the act of pushing the switch generates just enough electricity to transmit its unique switch code. Claimed range of the switch comes in at around 300 meters, which should give end-users plenty of flexibility.”
Gizmodo
Smart Mirrors. “For the elderly or just plain forgetful types who can’t remember if they’ve washed down their daily Vicodin, the Memory Mirror by Everyday Computing Lab keeps track of all drugs removed from its medicine cabinet. Visually represented with soothing lavender graphics, the mirror will record usage over a 24-hour period…”
Gizmodo
Hitachi launching line of thin client corporate laptops. “Hitachi’s just announced that they’ll be launching a new line of laptop computers with no hard drives, intended to keep employees from walking away with company secrets.”
Engadget
Treat your sick doll with rfid. “While playing, Naoru-kun starts coughing and sneezing. According to symptoms, kids must use one of the items including “syringe,” “candy” and “medicine.” The doll reads RFID tags embedded in these items and responds accordingly.”
we make money not art
Music Porter. “Most of the new models that are supposedly “music ready” haven’t played around with form much, but Docomo’s Music Porter does something different. Sure, it looks like a Gameboy Advance with numbered keys, but it sure is attracting a lot of attention, with prominent showcases at most stores, and people constantly playing around with them.”
Gizmodo
Developer links GPS to Google Maps. “While this may never take the place of dedicated mapping software, the idea of getting your GPS to interface with the Web has its appeal; we’d like to be able to go a step further and be able to, say, run a search on Moviefone.com and have our GPS transparently plot a route to the theater without us having to punch in the adddress.”
Engadget
Instant Scene Modeler. “Using a hand-held unit, a scene can be quickly imaged and a 3D model is generated for viewing from any perspective.”
MD Robotics
Wearable Warnings. “When charged the fur begins to stand on end; a visual indication that the wearer is uncomfortable. If someone invades the wearer’s personal space they will begin to feel a second warning; as they enter the coat’s electrostatic field they will feel tingling skin sensations and their hair will stand on end. The fur will begin to twitch toward them and emit crackling sounds. If the ‘threat’ proceeds to touch the fur then 100,000 volts of electro-static charge discharges from the fur, into the offender’s body.”
we make money not art
Mushroom sounds. “The Soundgarten [...] enables kids to create their own sound environment by manipulating toys. They can use predefined sound samples, record them and modify and arrange the different elements, choose volume pitch and apply sound effects.”
we make money not art:
Poor left stranded by digital divide. “Income, education and age as the biggest factors in creating the digital divide, according to a European Union report. It reveals that women are taking to technology in greater numbers than ever, and the over-55s are also gaining computer skills. But poor, badly educated people are still lagging behind.”
The Register
Flickr Firefox = FlickrFox. “Firefox web browser extension FlickrFox lets you browse photos in the sidebar from photo-sharing service Flickr.”
Lifehacker
Camphone Citizen Action in London. “As of today, anyone living in the south-east London borough can take a snap using their camera phone of the many problems that blight London’s roads, such as graffiti or fly-tipping and send it to the council.”
Smart Mobs
Blind student ‘hears in colour’. “A blind student has developed software that turns colours into musical notes so that he can read weather maps.”
BBC NEWS
How cellphones have changed the way we communicate. “Spontaneity Over Planning – People don’t stick to their plans/appointments any more, they can change them on the fly when something better comes up. Can You Help Me? – Cellphones will get you out of jams, but they also encourage you to not bother avoiding getting into jams. It’s so easy just to make a call.”
Smart Mobs
Domo Arigato, Doctor Roboto. “The 5-foot, 200-pound robot is equipped with a screen, zoom video camera, microphone and speakers that allow a physician to speak with and examine their patient and review charts, all while being remotely steered by doctors using videoconferencing and movement controls run through a secure Internet connection that is dropped into a wireless network at the hospital site where the robot is working.”
Tech Review
How cellphones have changed the way we communicate. “Spontaneity Over Planning – People don’t stick to their plans/appointments any more, they can change them on the fly when something better comes up. Can You Help Me? – Cellphones will get you out of jams, but they also encourage you to not bother avoiding getting into jams. It’s so easy just to make a call.”
Smart Mobs
Location-based SMS. Graffito: “When the recipient reaches the defined point, the message appears on his or her display. Unlike the classic SMS, the message is not sent to the addressee as such, but is only activated when the addressee comes within a defined radius of the location specified for the graffito. Another difference is that, if required, the message can be read not only by one person, but also by a number of cell phone users — like a real graffito plastered on a building wall”
networked_performance
QinetiQ announces smallest GPS tracking unit. “U.K.-based security and defense company QinetiQ has unveiled what they say is the world’s smallest GPS tracking device. The unit [...] does not require an external antenna, and is being marketed specifically as a theft-prevention device that can be “fitted to any moveable asset such as vehicles, containers, pallets or packages.”
Engadget
Spy in the bins. “Microchips inserted into the new bins in Croydon (S.London) may be adapted so that the council can judge whether residents are producing too much rubbish.
If they are, they may be visited by officials bearing advice on how they might “manage their rubbish more effectively”.
we make money not art
Biometric finger scanner can tell how old you are. “They’ve developed a biometric scanner called the Age Group Recognition Security System that uses ultrasound waves to make more than a dozen different measurements of the bones in your finger, using them to calculate a guess as to how old you are.”
Engadget
New Hasbro ChatNow Communicator Gadget. “ChatNow looks like a cell phone and lets kids “call” or “text” each other, with technology similar to a walkie-talkie. Each ChatNow comes with a seven-digit “Buddy Number” that can be used like a phone number so kids can call each other directly within a 2-mile radius.”
I4U News
Science intends to tag all life. “Initial projects will focus on birds and fish, recording details in their genetic make-up that can be used to tell one life form from another.
The initiative was launched in London at the International Conference for the Barcoding of Life.”
BBC NEWS
Osaka Police Use Goopas for Crime Prevention. “Osaka police started disseminating crime prevention information to commuters’ mobile phones using RFID train passes. They are taking advantage of an existing information dissemination service called Goopas.”
RFID in Japan
RFID badges coming to a school near you. “Brittan Elementary School, the only grade school in a California rural town, is requiring students to wear FRID badges that can track their every move. Teenagers must wear those identification cards around their necks with their picture, name and grade and a wireless transmitter that beams their ID number to a teacher’s handheld computer when s/he passes under an antenna above classroom doors.”
Smart Mobs
Smart scanner helps elderly shop. “A barcode reader is used to scan items from a catalogue – or off tins – and then the order is sent to the supermarket via the phone line.”
BBC NEWS
Total Immersions D’Fusion Technology. “Total Immersion’s D’Fusion software solution allows for real-time video capture and perfect merges between video streams and 3D objects. All you need is a camera, a few sensors, and a HUD. This turns your world into an immersive gaming experience, where you are IN the game…or where the game is all around you. Words cant really describe this, so just check out the video.”
Gear Live
The Baby Name Wizard. “Explore the sea of names, letter by letter…watch trends rise and fall, and dive in deeper to see your favorite name’s place in the historical tides.”
NameVoyager
Arizona State opens flexible-display center. “Their first prototype, a 4-inch, semi-flexible display, is expected to be out later this year. The center hopes to produce full-color flexible displays suitable for battlefield use as well as commercial applications, including displays that can be rolled up or folded.”
Engadget
U.S. Companies Move Call Center Work to the Home. “People who reach Esther DeJesus when they call Office Depot Inc.’s customer service center have no idea that she’s sitting at home in a room decorated with pictures of Garfield and Betty Boop.”
Reuters.com
The Human Clock. “Many people viewing this website end up sending in their own clock pictures, be they in an airplane, installing brakes, or on a playground. There are clock pictures from all over the world ranging from Outback Australia to Canada to Pakistan to Antarctica to Italy to Brazil. Other people travel around the American Southwest and end up taking a clock photo on a corner in Winslow, Arizona.”
HumanClock.com
CouchSurfing – The world is smaller than you think!. “CouchSurfing.com helps you make connections worldwide. You can use the network to meet people and then go and surf other members’ couches! When you surf a couch, you are a guest at someone’s house.”
CouchSurfing.com
PSP: 5 online titles available at launch. “All 5 games will feature two wireless multiplayer modes. The standard method will connect PSPs that are close together (i.e. in the same room), while the “infrastructure” mode makes use of the built in Wi-Fi to link players over the Internet via hotspots.”
Joystiq
Supermarket: Let your fingers do the paying. “A supermarket has given its customers the choice of paying by fingerprint at a store in the state of Washington–and has found them surprisingly willing to use the biometric system.”
CNET News.com
Crashed cars may soon be able to dial 999 for help. “In the event of a crash, e-call technology will dial the emergency services at a “Public Service Answering Point”, and report the vehicle’s exact location. The system, which will use a new Europe-wide emergency number of 112, can also be triggered by someone inside the car.”
Scotsman.com
Gravicells 2.0 “Walking freely in the site, visitors are able to feel gravity that they are seldom aware of, resistance to it, and the effects caused by other participants.”
Gravity and Resistance project
Augmented-reality machine works in real time. “Previously, it has been necessary to calibrate a computer using several markers added to a scene. The Oxford team’s machine only requires an object of known size to be placed in its line of sight to perform a complete calibration. The system then automatically picks out its own visual markers from a scene. By measuring the way these markers move the computer can judge how far away each marker is.”
New Scientist
Flickr photo color picker. “Click on any hue in the color palette and images randomly chosen from photo-sharing service Flickr in which that color dominates magically appear. Darken or lighten the color wheel using the slider on the right.”
Lifehacker
Playing mobile games with buildings. “Arcade which is part of Project Blinklights is an interactive light installation, allowing mobile users to play games such as Tetris, Pong or Pacman which are displayed on Buildings, by using their mobile phones.”
we make money not art
Napster Goes Mobile. “For about the price of one CD, Napster subscribers can now pack their portable music player with unlimited songs, delivering a new challenge to Apple Computer’s buck-a-song iTunes model.”
Wired News
Piero gives rugby new perspective. “Piero [...] creates a virtual stadium in which virtual players can be tracked from almost any angle.
Viewers will be able to see precisely how the ball was thrown and by whom, giving a greater depth to the growing wealth of analysis available during sports broadcasts.”
BBC NEWS
Hallon“…bookmark your favorite songs, an email that you have to reply to later that day, some documents that you are working on or the contact information of a friend whom you need to call before the end of the week. And you play the song, open the email, the document or the contact information just by choosing the bookmark in the Hallon menu.”
Hallon
Symbian Unveils More Powerful Smartphone Software. “The software can process pictures of two million pixels and more, it can send stereo music to a wirelessly connected headset and can import MP3 songs from a desktop computer without the need for additional synchronization software.”
EWeek
The Cell chip – what it is, and why you should care. “The ‘cell’ which gives the chip its name doesn’t refer to the hardware, but to a virtual clump of software which roams the system looking for computing resources. The patent refers to a “cell object” – program and data – and it can even roam across LANs or WANs, to find another Cell-based device.”
The Register
Video Images Floating in the Air. “Air comes into the device, is modified then ejected and illuminated to produce the image. Nothing is added to the air so there isn`t any harmful gas or liquid emitted from the device, and nothing needs to be refilled.”
Technology Trends
Folksonomies Tap People Power“The job of tags isn’t to organize all the world’s information into tidy categories,” said Stewart Butterfield, one of Flickr’s co-founders. “It’s to add value to the giant piles of data that are already out there.”
Wired News
Dance mat teaches pupils Spanish language. “Children learn words by placing their feet on coloured squares according to the words shown on screen and shouted out by a cartoon character. These cover topics such as colours, directions, shopping items and numbers.”
we make money not art
