Topic: Holy Crap! *New Tech/Gadget Thread*

[EasyCure]

Ever hear about or read up on some cool new technology or gadgets, and just think "holy crap, that's cool!"?

Well I do, and even if I'm not the most tech savvy person, I can appreciate how fast it evolves, and benefits our lives.

As usual, I just happened to stumble upon an interesting article that relates to some cool "new*" tech and felt like sharing it.
Looks like Nokia is working on making cell phones that use ambient radio waves to recharge themselves. Now, how cool is that? Sure it might not be the most ground breaking thing ever, but c'mon! How many times have you been stuck in that situation; your phone is in the red and you're waiting for that one important call/text/email and worried you'll never get it.

They're predicting that the energy that can be collected wirelessly won't be enough to fully recharge a phone but enough to keep a your phone from turning off. So unless you're stuck in a subway tunnel, basement garage or a mine (lol) you have all this perpetual energy for your phone (when in standby). Eventually tech like this will make it into all portables and its pretty exciting, to me personally. Imagine your iPods and DS's gradually gaining a lil bit of juice when not in use, and not worry about having to remember your car charges for those short trips, etc.



*I use quotes, by the way, because I know there has been a thread of similar discussion (wireless electricity) but besides not being able to find it, I hope this can become the standard thread to just mouth off about any cool new gadgets you all come across. It will keep things nice and neat if updated constantly with all your findings, and it'd be interesting to see how in a few years from now (if the thread keeps going) just how much has been achieved and what sort of new announcements are made in the technological world.

[Mop it up]

Ever hear about or read up on some cool new technology or gadgets, and just think "holy crap, that's cool!"?

Actually no, I haven't.

[vudu]

Not even when Nintendo announced the Ultra 64?

[Mop it up]

Nope. I never heard of the Nintendo 64 until my friend rented one. I never heard about it before trying it and I never read up about it.

[Stogi]

I'm a technology nut as well. I find bleeding edge innovation to be fascinating. These days, there is something new to be seen everyday.

I've read the Nokia article and I think it's moving in the right direction. I, however, think it would be way more useful if someone could come up with a way to harness sound waves rather than radio waves.

But I'm more interested in this: http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view.php3?article_id=218392803

A long-lasting, quickly-charged, super battery could make this budding technology even more useful.

[NWR_DrewMG]

I've been test driving the new iPhone 3.0 OS since it launched yesterday, and I'm really liking it.  They made some changes to the way it plays podcasts (like a 30 second rewind button) which should really come in handy.

[EasyCure]

Ever hear about or read up on some cool new technology or gadgets, and just think "holy crap, that's cool!"?

Actually no, I haven't.

You're not allowed to post in this topic until you have something useful to say

Nope. I never heard of the Nintendo 64 until my friend rented one. I never heard about it before trying it and I never read up about it.

perma-banned from this topic

I'm a technology nut as well. I find bleeding edge innovation to be fascinating. These days, there is something new to be seen everyday.

I've read the Nokia article and I think it's moving in the right direction. I, however, think it would be way more useful if someone could come up with a way to harness sound waves rather than radio waves.

But I'm more interested in this: http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view.php3?article_id=218392803

A long-lasting, quickly-charged, super battery could make this budding technology even more useful.

Wow, very interesting article. That clearly sounds much better than Nokias solution, and the fact that both teams seem to be shooting for the same time frame (for their ideas to hit market; 5 years) it'll be interesting to see how things unfold and what takes off.

My money would be on the new capacitor technology from your article, but who knows.

[kraken613]

I've been test driving the new iPhone 3.0 OS since it launched yesterday, and I'm really liking it.  They made some changes to the way it plays podcasts (like a 30 second rewind button) which should really come in handy.

Same here! Two years later I can Copy and Paste on my phone!

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

On TV a couple years ago I saw a British firm demonstrate a new material technology.  It was originally intended to coat the blades of helicopters to help silence them when activated by an electrical current, but it ended up doing the opposite: it made audio.  So we have a thin surface material that's basically a paper-thin speaker.  The applications they had for it were pretty awesome:  turning cell phone screens into the speakers themselves, laptop screens, and whatever mostly unused flat surfaces you can think of.  I was hoping to see this technology in mobile phones this year, but I guess it's not ready yet.

[EasyCure]

I've been test driving the new iPhone 3.0 OS since it launched yesterday, and I'm really liking it.  They made some changes to the way it plays podcasts (like a 30 second rewind button) which should really come in handy.

Same here! Two years later I can Copy and Paste on my phone!

2 years!? Hehe.. only took me about 8 months and 2 firmware updates for my phone

On TV a couple years ago I saw a British firm demonstrate a new material technology.  It was originally intended to coat the blades of helicopters to help silence them when activated by an electrical current, but it ended up doing the opposite: it made audio.  So we have a thin surface material that's basically a paper-thin speaker.  The applications they had for it were pretty awesome:  turning cell phone screens into the speakers themselves, laptop screens, and whatever mostly unused flat surfaces you can think of.  I was hoping to see this technology in mobile phones this year, but I guess it's not ready yet.

Wow imagine an iPhone where the whole screan is a speaker... I'm sure Apple is and i'm sure they'll try to keep other manufacturers from using that in their devices with some sorta stupid patent like they did with touch controls on the iphone

[Stogi]

I read about that a couple years back. I always wondered what happened to it.

But anyway...I read a site called newscientist.com almost everyday. It's a well updated, well informed site that explains new technologies with analogies that a novice could understand.

[EasyCure]

I read about that a couple years back. I always wondered what happened to it.

But anyway...I read a site called newscientist.com almost everyday. It's a well updated, well informed site that explains new technologies with analogies that a novice could understand.

Sounds like my kinda site!

[ThePerm]

i want a gigantic pressure sensitive touch screen for digital painting, it would have to be made so it doesnt get hot.

[grantimus]

I don't really keep up to date on "future tech" per se, but I do enjoy the Buzz Out Loud and This Week in Tech podcasts, even though I'm no tech head irl.  Neat thread though, that paper-thin speaker stuff sounds really cool!

[EasyCure]

I'm not very tech savvy myself but i'm still fascinated by new technology and innovative uses of old technology.. as long as its something i can wrap my head around

[Stogi]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16891-innovation-the-mobile-future-of-the-keyboard.html

Here's an interesting article about the future of mobile texting.

[EasyCure]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16891-innovation-the-mobile-future-of-the-keyboard.html

Here's an interesting article about the future of mobile texting.

Thanks for the link! I'm gonna have to check out the ShapeWriter, if its available on my phone yet that is. According to the article it should be available for the Adroid OS so it has to be.

The craziest part was this:

We reported last year on the first "voiceless phone call", placed using a neckband that makes it possible for someone to think words and have a computer read or type them out. The device detects and translates nerve signals sent by the brain to the vocal cords when we merely think about speaking a sound.

That'd be bad ass actually, assuming that if it ever does appear on the market, its not to fugly. I can image something like that becoming popular with the youth crowd (the type of kids that are in love with their t-mobile sidekicks) and being sold as fashionable accessories... which would suck for me lol. Something discreet that could possibly clip to your shirt collar would be nice. Though i'd hope it still requires to be activated by some means.. say hold down a button on your phone THEN think of what you wanna say. You might end up sending your thoughts out to the wrong people otherwise lol

[UltimatePartyBear]

Combine those throat mounted sensors with the scouter style wearable computer I've wanted for years, and people will really start looking like the Borg -- only with fashion sense.

[EasyCure]

So this ShapeWriter[/ur] thing isn't available on the Android Market yet.. damn!

I'm curious to see if drawing lines over an on-screen qwerty keyboard is any easier than the "search and peck" method. It sure doesnt look it..

[kraken613]

Firefox 3.5 is now out!

[BlackNMild2k1]

Firefox 3.5 is now out!

I think you wanted this thread instead:
Firefox & its awesome add-ons

[vudu]

Anything radically different/new?

[BlackNMild2k1]

I think you wanted this thread instead:
Firefox & its awesome add-ons

[Stogi]

I just read a fascinating article about a memristor. A new technology that mimics the synapses in the brain, resulting in intelligent circuits, that are by and large, TOO intelligent for us to use with existing software and thus new software has to be written for it. DARPA, the government organization responsible for things like the internet, are now funding this new technology in order to make biologically correct machines. This is only the beginning, but some of the outcomes of such a technology could result in AI.

Here's the article:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327151.600-memristor-minds-the-future-of-artificial-intelligence.html

[BlackNMild2k1]

We must destroy it now....


before its too late.