Folks, this is the kind of product that truly will propel you into...TEH FUTURE *insert echo here*
(and yes, I always say it this way. It provides somewhat of a dramatic yet slightly ironic tone to my tech news).
Discover the Vuzix iWear AV230 XL+, a lightweight pair of stereoscopic glasses which provide the same experience as watching a 44-inch screen viewed from 9 feet.
Short of getting yourself a $3000 flatscreen complete with THX sound or a $50,000 full-on VR headset with touch feedback, these glasses might provide a pretty awesome gaming or movie-watching experience. As mentioned on the site, the dual displays provide "crisp images and vivid colors through optics aligned to military specifications", and the glasses feature removable high-quality stereo headphones (altough when a product description features the words "removable" and "high-quality" in the same sentence, I always tend to read "removable quality". But that's just me. I like alphanumeric naming. Feed me XTX-2000 bran and nut flakes anytime, I'll feel like a superhero.)
I haven't had the chance to actually review these goggles yet, but I like the premice this new model offers, just from description. Just so you know, past reviews about these type of glasses featured rants about "annoying scan lines" affecting picture quality, average sound and tired eyes -- all for a steep price. But it seems the good folks at Vuzix heard the cries of our people, and came up with this product retailing for less than $200 bucks while providing a kickass-end experience.
If you own a pair and would like to give me your impressions, go ahead and let the readers know!
I just had to show this to you, folks, as I find it truly amazing: a fully-functional, quill-writing automaton dating from the 18th century -- 1772, to be precise.
Two small keys are used to wind-up the automaton which, once started, can write any pre-programmed sentence upon a velin sheet. It dips its feather in the inkwell, shakes it twice with incredible human-like movement, and actually forms letters better than I could using a quill. His eyes actually follow what is being written, and his head turns as he dips the quill again.
From fogozanos.blogspot.com: "The Writer is able to write any custom text up to 40 letters long. The text is coded on a wheel where characters are selected one by one. According to Wikipedia, some authors explain that this automaton is a forerunner of the computers. This statement is certainly justified since the machine is composed of a "program" and a "memory". The "program" is a wheel which makes it possible to choose the words the android is to write, and the "memory", which is made up by a set of cams, make it possible to form the letters. However, other authors think The Writer works more like a music box than like a computer."
Windows just opened up on creativity...and also on us attention-deficient-unless-hollered-by-a-female-species-artificial-intelligence-thingie-called-Ms.Dewey- male crowd. Introducing Ms. Dewey, an artificial intelligence thingie for Windows Live Search.
Ms. Dewey is actually quite the funny, ironic, obnoxious, modern woman, who will comment your searches on Windows Live and help you through the whole experience. And it actually makes it fun. I left Google today, to play with Ms. Dewey.
Of course, being a guy, you all suspect the first thing I was going to ask Ms. Dewey about. You try it yourself and see. I'll let you enjoy the surprise.
The next thing I asked Ms. Dewey, is about "Apple". So I type in A-P-P-L-E and press "enter". Ms. Dewey replies something like: "Zeros and ones, zeroes and ones, ones and zeroes, all this useless coding, underwear on your head, and you still couldn't create the woman of your dreams". Zing!Interestingly enough, I got the same answer after typing "Microsoft".
I like Ms. Dewey. I think searching while accompanied by someone puts more humanity on the face of the World Wide Web. In spite of what everyone says, I have to recognize it's a great idea. Yes the interface sucks. Yes, the AI needs work, and yes the loading times are tedious.
But not everyone using the WWW is a nerd, you know. I think normal people can appreciate creative ideas, as a step in the right direction to simple, enjoyable user experience.
There are a lot of steps to be taken before Ms. Dewey is made perfect. For a search engine anyway. I hope they keep at it, and push it further. I'm sure Ms. Dewey still has a lot into her.
This is the coolest sketching system you'll ever see. I'm sure this piece of software will find its way to distributors and buyers pretty quick. It's simply something the world had needed since a long time.
Every year, Dutch electronics giant Philips holds an event titled "Philips Simplicity", where they present their latest high-tech practical concepts and experiments. This year the event was held at the ExCel Center in London's docklands, and apparently put emphasis on "healthy living" and the embetterment of daily household activities.
> ...such as drawing on walls. Philips recently has had this knack with light-emitting sources. Well, behold the "Drag-And-Draw", a light-emitting 'pen' that can draw on any surface, including walls. Thanks to a simple interface, one can also animate the pics that have been drawn, and they can be 'erased' with the click of a button. Instant personal favourite.
>...Hate your old alarm clock? Well how about this soft-wakeup alarm light: it simply starts to brigthen up one hour before you wake up, so you can awake gently and naturally without putting stress on your body. According to GadgetCentre, it will be on sale in France this year, and in UK by 2007. How about Canada? Boohoo.
>...and how about this state-of-the-art hospital examining room? The good people at Philips believe that these examining rooms are often cold and well...unhospitable. The use of colourful lighting and ambient light-patterns could help improve the general mood of patients (as well as doctors), and make the experience less scary. Of course this opens up a gigantic can of worms about practice and vision, but who cares. This is the realm of ideas.
I had never seen nor heard about the Sony Mylo(Mylo stands for Mylife Online) digital companion until I saw a recent Rush Mylo ad, downloaded from an RSS feed on my PSP.
Just a bit about the product itself: The Sony Mylois a digital tool that's basically a portable broadband communicator. You can use it to surf the internet, check your emails, IM/chat, make voice calls over the internet, listen to music, check out videos and more. No wires needed - you just get connected through a WiFi spot, and get going. I thought there was an integrated camera in there, but apparently, none yet. Pfff. I don't know why people would get this instead of aSony PSP, which has tons more features, and is about the same price.
Nevertheless, they have this cool new campaign called "Rush Mylo", obviously targeting the golden demographic, youth 18-25. The campaigns mostly feature viral movies about "thumb students" living crazy episodes depiciting college life. You'll find most of these on YouTube, but here are a few anyway.
Among campaign elements, the RUSH MYLO WEBSITEfeaturing an interactive campus on which you can go about, and discover the life of a Thumb Student, and of course many of the Mylo features.
A MOST TRIPPY CAMPAIGN! I love it. Original and complete, noteworthy, talkworthy, with actual movies you can download and view on your Mylo or PSP. Great work from McKinney + Silver, in North Carolina.
The latest version in the Painter series is Painter IX.5. You can get a free 30-day trial on Corel's website.
I recently got it for myself, and I just started toying around with it yesterday evening. I created this little painting (gouache on canvas) in less than 2 hours.
Better yet, if you have the chance to get yourself a Wacom Drawing Pad (I've been using one for over 10 years now - if you don't know what it is, check out http://www.wacom.com/), you get incredible stylus control and flexibility over the tools available in painter, for this natural look you want. Try it yourself !
Microsoft is once again acting like a millionaire's spoiled kid. When they can't have the lead in a particular category, they pout, and they want something BIGGER and BETTER to replace the competition. These days, they're screaming: "I WANT MY YOUTUBE TOO!".
Now, now, Mickey. Big daddy Gates is going to shell out the money, and you will soon be one happy little megacorporation with its new online video community software called SoapBox.
SoapBox will be part of the MSN line of products, replacing the once popular MSN Video (before Yahoo, YouTube and friends came and rained on its parade). Unlike MSN Video, Soapbox will be available for various browsers, including Apple's Safari and FireFox.
With SoapBox, you will be able to:
- Upload videos in almost any format-like from your video or digital camera (maximum file size is currently 100MB); - Tag and categorize your videos to make it easy for other people to find them; - Watch original videos and browse for new ones at the same time; - Set up your own personal RSS feeds for videos you're interested in; - Use your Windows Live Spaces profile with Soapbox on MSN Video; - Embed a video on your Web site or blog.
Check out the SoapBox front page here. While the site is still in beta testing, you can request an invitation. The very fruity video they're showing doesn't even play right on my Windows Media Player.
Wow Microsoft! Once again a day late and a dollar short. Bravo! What's next? Microsoft Yellow Pages? Microsoft Star Wars XP? Microsoften Dazs Cookie Dough Ice Cream?
Why don't you think of a good idea, and make it right the first time, Bill?
Most respectable commercial for Microsoft Zune, Bill Gates' answer to Apple's iPod series. The Zune series will be new "it" thing in terms of stealing what's left of your social life - becoming your new "digital lifestyle companion".
Besides the initial Zune mp3/video player, we might be plagued with a microsoft portable gaming console (kind of a portable Xbox), a cellphone, a system resembling Itunes that will actually ease your transition from iTunes to Zune, and proprietary software. The whole Zune system will be made to be a complete, vertically-integrated solution, and not a iPod, iPod Nano, iPod Mini, iPod This and that, iTunes, and iStore multiple combo scheme - which might actually make you feel like you have value for your dollar. Coming soon.
I hate Apple. I hate Windows. SONY, HELP ME!!!Just kidding.
Sony and Standford University have announced that the PS3 will be able to participate in a worldwide cancer grid research program titled Cure@PS3, due the the awesome computing power found inside the console's revolutionnary chip.
Distributed computing, or "Grid computing", "...breaks down complex computing problems into small steps that can be solved in parallel by thousands or even millions of machines at once. ", according to Wired.
This means that when you leave your PS3 on, it will crunch down formulas and numbers pertaining to cancer research, and send the info back to a master computer. Says electro^plankton: "...To put that into perspective, lets just say the PS3 sells as many units as the PS2's has sold to date. That's over 60 million PS3's number crunching away, far more powerful than any super computer at any facility."
I often dream of getting me one of these babies when they get out, but their reported december launch price of 600$ makes me reconsider. BUT NOW THAT I KNOW PS3s CAN HELP SOLVE CANCER, MAN! Maybe I can find a kind and generous spot in my heart.
I'm a freelancer and free thinker in the field of marketing and communications, trying to continually expand the known universe in my little mind -- and yours.
