Archive for July 24th, 2007
(Yahoo Design Week) – This is one of the most artistic project I saw (heard) at the design week. A “garden” of 9 Lilly flowers was on display on a white base, I had to put my hear on the flowers to listen to women moaning sexually… so I asked if there was a guy voice among the 9 flowers, since I am a straight woman.
Well, the answer was that none of the “beta testers” (women included) thought that a guy moaning is sexy. Go to Jay Yan’s website to learn more about his work: jay-yan.com
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July 24th, 2007
The almighty FCC has just given their nod of approval to the HTC Vogue Pocket PC phone. This is a dual-band CDMA handset, and word on the street has it that the Vogue is actually a variant of the HTC Touch, and will have the honor of being the first CDMA HTC to come with TouchFlo technology. Since it is a CDMA device, you can safely bet your dollars for it to appear on Verizon Wireless or Sprint unless it becomes carrier-exclusive (which is a bad thing for consumers always). Should the HTC Vogue be similar in size and design as the Touch, we’re all in for a lovely treat as the Touch has already garnered rave reviews.
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July 24th, 2007
The culmination of work by MIT and Brown University researchers have resulted in the IWalk PowerFoot One prosthetic foot. This unique mechanical limb will be available on a commercial basis next summer, and it comes with an electric motor as well as a series of springs that work like tendons. The IWalk PowerFoot One is widely expected to benefit amputees, offering a more natural gait that helps build up one’s self confidence. Since the IWalk PowerFoot One isn’t just dead weight and puts a spring in every step, it will greatly help one’s movement. It is interesting to see technology trying to bridge the gap between the human body and bionic parts to make an incomplete person whole.
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July 24th, 2007
Hyundai Telecom has just unveiled its Smart Handy HRC-300 cellphone in Korea, merging both home network function along with telephone capability in a single device. This includes the ability to receive text messages as well as phone book management. The HRC-300 comes with a 2.2″ TFT LCD display and comes in a pleasing ergonomic design. Too bad you only have red and black to choose from, so those who prefer other colors are out of luck. Sounds like a pretty redundant function to me, as receiving a text message on your cellphone is by far the better option when you want someone to reach you.
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July 24th, 2007
If you’re sick and tired of losing the caps on your USB flash drives, the Memorette from FMSemicon ought to solve that problem in a flash, considering there is no cap to lose in the first place. The USB connector is protected by swiveling cover that snaps into place whenever the Memorette is not in use. Performance specifications are nothing out of the ordinary, with the Memorette clocking up read and write speeds of 19MB/s and 11.5MB/s respectively. The 8GB version is currently available although those who want to pick up the 16GB version will have to wait until early next month. Pricing details have yet to be confirmed, but it shouldn’t be too expensive considering there is no bling or crystals attached to it. Take note that this is a Korea-only product at the moment.
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July 24th, 2007
Touchscreen display technology definitely comes in handy, especially at information kiosks where users try to glean through what they want to know about a particular section of the building. Other than that, miscellanous practical uses include using it as a show window for potential buyers to check out just exactly what they’re going to purchase, while voracious readers of books will be able to check out a preview of upcoming novels via this technology. Dahan T&S from Korea is looking to push touchscreen technology in the Korean market in the above mentioned industries for a more fulfilling customer experience.
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July 24th, 2007
Sony has just unveiled the Hana, their latest audio prototype. Just in case you didn’t know (like me), “Hana” means flower in Japanese, and that name suits this prototype beautifully as it comes in a silver-plated flower petal LED shape for a lamp. Not only does it give light to your surroundings, the Hana also features integrated MP3 playback and full-length speakers. I wonder whether this will ever make it to production, and if it does, what kind of impact would it have in the home theater arena.
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July 24th, 2007
Hard drives are notorious for consuming power in a computer, and Western Digital has taken steps to make their new 1TB hard drive environmentally greener, using up to 40% less power than other devices in its class. The 3.5″ GreenPower models consumes more than 5 watts when compared to its rivals, with the figure standing at 8 to 8.5 watts. That means a savings of $10 per hard drive in terms of electricity each year, and you really see significant differences in the power bill for server farms that hold 10,000 or more hard drives. The Energy Star 4.0-compliant WD Caviar GP 1 TB hard drive will begin shipping this July under the guise of the My Book range at a yet undisclosed price.
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July 24th, 2007
(Yahoo Design Week) – The CubeBrowser is a project coming from the Academy of Media Arts of Cologne. The concept is to have a six-display cube with high-res screens that enables the user to browse online photo databases. The photo shows the prototype I tested at the Yahoo Design Week: the screens are simulated on the monitor and the cube is used as a controller.
The goal is to navigate photos using tags: when moving the cube on the horizontal axis the user sees tagged with the same keyword, turning it on the vertical axis brings images with new tags (up) or already visited ones (down).
Charlotte Krauss, Andreas Muxel, Ludwig Zeller designed it with Prof. Frans Vogelaar and Prof. Zilvinas Lilas. For more information, go to the website: cubebrowser.openkhm.de
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July 24th, 2007
If you though that 802.11n connectivity is fast, think again. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have managed to conjure a solution that transfers data wirelessly at a whopping 15Gbps. Now that’s certainly speedy enough to transfer high definition media in a flash, but unfortunately its Achilles Heel lies in the transmission distance of a mere 100cm. Guess such technology works great for close proximity connections only, unless they could work at it to reach WiFi-class ranges. An interesting and practical solution would be hooking up your satellite cable box or console to a HDTV sans wires. I wonder how much Microsoft and Sony would charge for such an adapter if this is ever made a possibility.
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July 24th, 2007
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