Static Cure

Wireless Power Tech

2009-11-03T09:00:00.000-08:00

Two words that do not go together, "wireless" and "power." But it might be possible. The previous post before this about universal cell phone chargers got me thinking: what if we don't need chargers at all? Before you think I'm crazy, hear me out.

The Palm Pre was able to achieve a version of this by removing the tethered aspect of the equation with their "Touchstone." You simply place the Palm Pre phone on the charging device and it starts charging without the need to connect a wire or insert the phone into a slot of some sort. It does this through a technology called inductive coupling which is much more popular in electric toothbrushes to keep out water and moisture. The way this works, in a nutshell, is that when the rate of current changes in one wire, it induces another wire that is similarly configured to have a charge.

There are already plans by some furniture makers to make the surface areas of their furniture compatible with inductive coupling technology and manufacturers are slowly getting on the wireless power bandwagon and creating flat surfaces that can be used as charging stations. Minor modifications are necessary to current devices for this to work but the potential for wireless power is huge. Check this out to get a sense of what I mean:

Imagine sitting at home and your TV, your cell phone, light bulbs, and anything else that needs power is not tethered to anything. There are current theories that state this to be a possibility perhaps with microwaves beamed down from space. But more of that after a break, besides, I wouldn't want to "overload" your brain.

The Bad Man Notice: The Palm brand and Palm Pre product was merely used as an example of the current use of the mentioned technology and in no way do I endorse nor am affiliated with the above mentioned products.

Phone Charger Tech

2009-10-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

When you go on vacation, a business trip, a getaway, a sleepover, a weekend visit, etc., the one thing you never forget (or try not to for that matter) is your cell phone charger. It is one of the first few things you pack and in the event of forgetting said charging device, you simply consider yourself royally screwed. For what are you to do without your cell phone? You slowly see that battery meter dwindling down: 3 squares, full charge...2 squares, half charge....1 square, its only a matter of time; and finally your phone turns off. It's almost poetic.

Its about time that phone companies come out with a universal charger and that's exactly what a new UN body recently approved. A charger that can work on any kind of phone, anywhere. Well, almost anywhere. The plug will have to be region specific but the connector (what goes into your phone) does not. The report calls for the use of micro usb, a somewhat recent addition to the family of usb connectors.

Jacked from: mobileburn.com

The jack on the left is a regular mini usb that is currently used often for charging various devices from cell phones to digital cameras. The jack on the right is micro usb. It is smaller to fit well with the new, sleeker devices coming out and can also help reduce power consumption. If that happens on a worldwide scale, then we're looking at a major reduction in CO2 emissions. Around the tune of 13.6 million tons, according to msnbc.com.

When will all this happen? When will this revolution occur? Hopefully in the next few years. We might not see anything different for another five years but we are slowly moving towards the goal of a universal charger for everything and hopefully one day, you won't even have to plug in your device to charge it. What if it could just lie there on any surface and get charged much like how you receive a wireless signal with a router. If only it were that simple...but, until then, happy charging!

Vision Tech Part 2

2009-09-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

This is part 2 of the post about vision and the human eye. In the previous post, I talked about how there was new technology that is slowly helping blind people see, to an extent. Even though the vision is limited to light and dark and, with training, people utilizing the technology can make out the difference between certain things, there is still a long way to go before reaching the final goal of restoring one's vision. Almost like the holy grail of vision for scientists and doctors in this particular area of study.

Two years ago, a team of scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz were able to create an advanced chip that could be implanted into the retina and send tiny electrical impulses that are in a certain code to the retinal Ganglion cells which can only be understand by those particular cells. The Ganglion cells would then send those signals through the optic nerve to the brain where they would be processed as normal vision. By using microchip detectors that line supercolliders to detect minute atomic level particles; and modelling the retinal chip with them, scientists were able to send more precise electrical impulses and help generate a better image than before.

Image taken from: MIT Technology Review. Electrodes are located on the golden circle in the center.

The impairment (no pun intended) of this technology is that it still relies on a host of other devices to help it function. Besides the micro chip implanted in the eye, there is a separate processor that gets a video feed from a tiny video camera mounted in the middle of a pair of glasses and converts that to a code which is decoded as electrical impulses by the microchip. The technology is called an artificial retina and is being manufactured and tested commercially by a company called Second Sight.

With improvements being made every year, it seems like there is a correlation between the quality of the image sent through electrical impulses and the amount of electrodes on the microchip. Such technology could become mainstream within the next decade.

Vision Tech Part 1

2009-09-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

Heard of the golden years? Yeah, I don't want to go through them either but imagine you had to do that with no eyesight. Imagine not being able to see the pizza guy that you want to pick a fight with for being a minute late or sitting on the porch and reading the paper or whatever people do when they get older.

Hopefully, by the time this current generation of "Millenials" hits the golden years, there will be something as simple as taking a pill to cure blindness. Until that happens, there is still new research that is worth being hopeful about. It is loosely called the artificial retina and is making its rounds in the scientific community as being able to help people restore some aspects of their vision.

Image Source: The New York Times (click to enlarge)

By implanting electrodes into the retina and connecting them to the optic nerve, the brain can receive images from a miniature camera mounted on glasses and can decipher between light and dark. We're not talking about high definition here but if someone can make out the markings on a sidewalk or recognize faces, then its a huge step towards enabling people to use their eyes again.

However, as with any new technology, there are certain limitations. As a person goes blind, the part of the brain that processes vision does not get used anymore. Technology might be able to help people regain their vision but people will still have to go through intensive rehabilitation programs to retrain the part of the brain that is responsible for vision. Although, this would be considered a small price to pay for the possibility of being able to see again.

Geothermal Tech

2009-09-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

Our constant thirst for more energy is drying up the earth's oil wells and coal deposits. There is however a new push for green alternatives has led to many ventures culminating with the construction of solar and wind turbine fields (For more information on 'Green Technology' and 'Lifestyle,' check out Experience's Green blogs in the right hand column). At present, they provide about 2% of the country's energy supply and although one can argue that it is a start--it is not efficient by any standards.

Another technology being touted is geothermal and although it has existed in the past, there was never a big push for it mainly because of a lack of locations around the planet where it was feasible. For geothermal energy to be effective and more importantly efficient, water needs to be pumped down into rocks that will heat it up to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. That was the old way of using geothermal energy. A new method, utilizing nano technology has been proposed and is currently in the testing phase that could prove to be very promising. (For more information on Nano Technology, refer to this post)

Illustration of different types of nano particles and structures. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Besides water, other substances were tested to see if they would be able to retain heat and be successfully pumped into and out of the rocks and one of the more promising substances was gasoline. However, the main problem with gasoline is that it turns into a vapor relatively easily at normal temperatures. To alleviate this issue, researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as considering using nano technology for the heat transfer. Some nano particles are capable of holding over 30% of their weight in another compound at higher temperatures and pressures. Couple those particles with gas and you can heat it to the general temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit which is much more abundant in geothermal areas and you have a process that is in theory, not only efficient but also capable of providing at current estimates, 10% of our consumption in as little as three years.

The technology in principle is quite simple but as easy as it sounds, it somehow never ends up that way. Regardless it will be interesting to see how this technology develops and it is just another leg up for nano material to save the day...or produce more power for that matter.

Windmill Tech

2009-09-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

This so called Green Age is surely picking up speed every day as more people try to tackle the issue. It's not only the big companies like GE that are working on the subject of alternative, clean energy but also recent engineering graduates who feel that their design is better than the rest. Now, windmills in general have not changed much in their design but improvements in generators and related technology has allowed for some decent sized gains in the efficiency of windmills in general. A typical wind farm is about as exciting as a plain bagel on Monday morning but it produces an immense amount of electricity.

(Image jacked from planetsave.com)

As much as I'd love to drive past towering pillars of bird killers everywhere, I figured that there had to be a better way to harness the power of the wind. A design that has been emerging as better, safer and more eye friendly is the vertical-axis type pictured to the left. (If you haven't
figured it out by now, the regular windmills we see are horizontal-axis. Its okay, I won't tell.) Such windmills are beginning to take the limelight from their bigger counterparts. Why? Well for starters, the windmill is vertical and its blades span the vertical length of the windmill. That means we don't have to have gigantic windmills all over the place and instead, perhaps have something like this that will occupy all of about 6 foot by 6 foot area.
(Image stolen from: news.cnet.com)

They can also be built smaller or bigger as necessary and could show up soon in neighborhood backyards. Another advantage would be that you would be able to go to sleep at night knowing your windmill didn't kill any birds that day. Apparently, since the structure is more cylindrical and the rotations more predictable, birds can see this and steer clear of it relatively easily.

One of the more famous implementations of the vertical-axis wind turbine is on the roof of Jay Leno's huge antique car garage where it powers all the lighting for it. That's the kind of random facts you end up knowing if you watch Discovery channel and History channel too much.

Brain Games

2009-09-08T22:10:00.000-07:00

There was a recent post called Mind Tech about Honda building a brain censoring device that was able to send commands to ASIMO, the advanced robot. The device used select areas of the brain and the brain waves that were generated to be able to figure out if someone wanted to, say, move a hand on the robot up or down. If we can monitor one area of the brain with something strapped to our head, then we can certainly monitor another part of our brain in a similar fashion.

That is the idea behind some really nifty gadgets that are set to debut to the general public by the time the holiday buying season begins. Some of the better known companies in the field making the push for such devices are NeuroSky and Emotiv; both with respective products almost set to launch.The picture above shows a game by Mattel that will use the mind to control the speeds of fans to make the ball move through an obstacle course. Notice the band on the top of the person's head. This is used to record specific brain waves that are then processed to fit patterns of behavior that will ultimately control the functions of the game. The key, however, is that the head piece is much smaller in size than their older counterparts.

Check out the video below for a cool demo on the power of these headsets.

Weight loss Tech

2009-08-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

Its the age old question: Which weight loss plan will work for me? Whatever your reason might be for shedding some unwanted pounds or turning the fat into muscle, there has never been a better time to get your walking or running shoes on and going for a brisk walk in the evening breeze or running through a nearby park. There are literally hundreds of ways to keep yourself on track and also figure out how much you are burning off. As we all know, there is an iPhone app for anything these days and you can find a lot of apps geared towards weight control or weigh loss. Check out the link here for some of the top 10 iPhone apps in this category.

For those of you who do not own an iPhone (myself included), there are still countless ways to keep yourself on track. One such method is by using GPS. If you have a phone that has GPS, then you can simply load an application on it that will track your movement via GPS and calculate your speed and the amount of calories you're burning. If you want something smaller, then check out this GPS watch by Garmin:
The Garmin Forerunner is an entry level GPS watch that can measure speed, distance, pace and the amount of calories burned. Now if you don't want to be that high tech, then you can get a watch with a wireless sensor for monitoring heart rate and pace which will also tell you how many calories you have been burning, and for how long.

Don't want to carry around a big watch that will tell you the details? Let your shoes do that for you. Yup, with some help from Nike and Apple, there is a "smart shoe" that will keep track of how long you've been running for and also tell you how far which constantly gets uploaded to your iPod and onto your computer the next time you sync your music.
With all this technology backing you up, there is no reason for you to lounge around all day. As the saying goes: put your best foot forward and everything else will follow.
Yeah I just made that up.

BAD MAN NOTICE: I don't endorse or recommend purchasing any of the products today and simply report on the presence of such products in the marketplace. Please do your own research before buying any running accessories and consult with a physician before beginning any diet or exercise regimen.

Cellphone Tech

2009-08-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

What if we didn't have to use our keys to get into our houses, or take out a wallet to pay for something at the register or even show someone your actual ticket at a ball game? What if you could take all those with you simply on your phone.

The cell phone has morphed into an almost miniature computer with its ablity to play music, check email, and even work on spreadsheets on the go. However, as it slowly replaces the computer on the go, it might soon be changing the amount of things you have to carry with you; generally, your phone, wallet and keys. Of course this assumes that you dont leave your key under the doormat or the rock beside the door.

Much like how American Express has ExpressPay or MasterCard has Pay Pass, we might soon just have to wave our cell phone over credit card machines and our items will be paid for, thanks to RFID. The picture below depicts the concept.

Mobile wallets are not something new, as people have tried to find more ways to have less things in their wallets. Consolidating things might also be a sort-of green movement, since you would no longer need a wallet and all the associated production costs.

If you really wanted to have a "mobile credit card, you can simply cut up an existing card with an RFID chip and put it between the battery cover and the battery of your phone. That might actually work well as a short term solution. Expect to see more cellphone-wallet combination technology within the next 5 years.

Cable Tech

2009-07-30T09:42:00.000-07:00

I'd like to ask you a simple question. How do you get internet? How do you access a webpage in Europe or Asia? Its all satellites right? I mean, we have about 40+ U.S. satellites in space hovering around and transmitting signals and such, right? Partially.

Today, I'm going to take a look at an intriguing way of connectivity that might make you re-think what it takes to display a web page or image in China or Iran. If you don't know by now, the backbone of internet connectivity is all done with wired connections. But how could you possibly have a connection from here to China or Europe? You would have to run a cable the length of the entire ocean! Absolutely.
That really sounds expensive if not impossible! Sure.
You would have to map the entire ocean floor and make a special cable and make it really really long! Yup.

Take a gander at this popular picture below aptly titled "The Internet's undersea world."

So what does this picture show? Well for one thing, it shows all the cables that currently run under our seas and oceans to keep us connected to the entire world. Think about that for a second. If you are on amazon.com and you order a book or something from the UK, that information travels from your computer through your router (if you have one) and to your internet company and then to the operator of the undersea cable which routes your data through one of the cables that runs all the way from the U.S. to the U.K. at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean and to the Amazon servers there. The return trip is about similar too. The best part is that all this happens in the blink of an eye.

Fiber optics works by transmitting light, which travels through a fiber optics cable like as if its going through a big tunnel. Imagine you took a crazy bounce ball and throw it into a tunnel. It will bounce off a bunch of surfaces as it travels through the tunnel. Thats the same way light travels through fiber optics cable. However, if you can decrease the size of the tunnel, the ball will bounce much more often and go through the tunnel faster. Same concept, except that in fiber optic cables, the "tunnel" is about 8-10 microns small which is about 0.00031 inches in diameter which essentially gives light a straight clear path of travel. From what I remember in my Science classes, light travels through a vacuum at 300,000 kilometers per second.

What does that mean? It means that data can make a two way trip from the U.S. to the U.K. and back in less than half a second.

Wrap your head around that little bit of knowledge and I bet the next time you go to a website, you will be thinking about how much the data had to travel to get to your computer. Nifty.

No Lamp is a Good Lamp

2009-07-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

We have lamps, lights, tube lights, bulbs, and other lighting devices everywhere. Look around you and I bet you will be able to see at least two or three such fixtures. What can be done about the lights and lamps we use that just end up in landfills. How many times have you driven past houses where someone is throwing away an old lamp? How about if we just make them all disappear? Oh, I like the sound of that. No more freakishly tall and skinny light posts that seem to stand over us and mock our very existence...more on that later, maybe.

What if the ceiling or a wall became a large flat light? You flick a switch and the entire ceiling surface area will light up. What if that could be your light source and what if it can be 50% more efficient than the regular lights we now use. Introducing Lumiette an energy company that claims to create "efficient, cost-effective lighting."

s These lights are based off External Electrode Fluorescent Lamp technology which was originally used as a backlight in liquid crystal displays. Coupled with dimming technology, these new lights can not only save a ton of money and CO2, they can also be implemented almost anywhere. New houses or apartments can have these built into their walls or ceilings. Utilize an intelligent lighting system which can turn on or turn off lights by detecting the presence of a person and you can expect even greater conservation of electricity.

Now if only they can fetch me a cold beverage from the refridgerator...

Gaming Tech Part 3

2009-07-09T08:51:00.000-07:00

From the most recent posts, I've been discussing one and only one thing, the Microsoft Natal. The current codename for Microsoft's new interactive, gaming "controller" that requires no controller (try wrapping your head around that one). Today, we will look at some of the technology in the Natal from the hardware and software aspect and see how they have been combined to create a one of a kind device. For Natal to detect the presence of a person coming towards it, a simple motion sensor would do the trick just fine. Hopefully, the entire system can recognize the difference between a dog running around the house every 5 minutes versus a person. On the other hand, if you get the dog intrigued, then who knows? Maybe man's best friend can become the non-complaining warthog driver in Halo while you tear through the Covenant!

Now, "facial recognition, voice recognition, skeletal mapping" are all things that Microsoft Research have been working on, according to Phil Spencer, general manager of Microsoft Game Studios (1). Essentially, the offerings of Natal are more software based than hardware.

As you can see, the two eyes, or cameras in this case would most probably provide the depth as they work in unison, much like a normal person's eyes. The video would need to be processed in real time to figure out skeletal structure and set points of motion for the knees, wrists, head, torso, elbows, etc. These points of motion would be used to figure out how the body is moving and as a result, how the character moves in the game. Skeletal mapping in real time, would be one of the more challenging aspects of Natal for the software developers at Microsoft. However, facial and voice recognition has been around for a while and would be easier to implement.

With regards to price, the hardware of Natal might most probably comprise of two really good cameras, a motion sensor and a microphone. Produced on a mass scale and it will be easy to bring the cost down to under $200 as the reports have been suggesting. Combine that with Microsoft's policy to make a loss on every console, and you have further price cuts that should make the Natal a very intriguing device and at the least, a "game changer."

1 - http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/technologybrierdudleysblog/2009296568_e3_new_info_on_microsofts_nata.html

Gaming Tech Part 2

2009-06-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

I said I would introduce the next "big thing" in gaming and I will. As the Wii has forced us to become an active population of gamers who actually burn serious calories while playing video games, it only allows us to use our hands. We can get the WiiFit pad and that will allow us to use our feet and maybe our hands at the same time. But what if there was a way where we could use our entire body without buying extra controllers.

What if we didn't even need a controller.

What if the controller as we know it, became obsolete. I'm sure you're wondering if this might be a new mind control device or something like that. I can assure you otherwise. If you have been keeping up with E3, the huge gaming and electronics convention held every year in Las Vegas, you might know what I am talking about it. For everyone else...ever heard of some company called Microsoft? Those goofs in Redmond might actually make something worth fighting for...finally.

Introducing the soon-to-be-released Microsoft Natal.

The Microsoft Natal for Xbox 360 is a revolutionary new way of gaming to the likes of nothing we have seen before, except in science-fiction movies.

With Natal, you can not only use either your hands or your legs bu rather, your entire body. The website Obsessable.com states that "According to Microsoft, Natal is precise enough to recognize facial expressions and emotion." This means that, when you walk up towards Natal, it will be able to recognize you by not only your voice but also by 'seeing' your face. Also, by analyzing facial expressions and vocal qualities, (which we will get into later) it can figure out if you're having a bad day, among other things.

The possibilities for Natal are endless at the least and its going to be interesting to see the type of games that studios develop for such hardware such as the E3 demo of an intriguing character called Milo who interacts with a person almost as if there were no TV screen at all. See the related youtube videos for more information on what I am talking about.

Gaming Tech Part 1

2009-06-07T21:24:00.000-07:00

It seems that the console wars tend to rage on from one generation to the next. It started with the likes of Sega, Dreamcast, Nintendo, Playstation, etc. However, they all had one thing in common: their basic design, which usually consisted of a console and the controller. The Nintendo DS and the PSP revolutionized the meaning of the controller by putting the screen in the palm of your hand.

This was a deciding factor between gaming fans. Would you go for the fun, but poor (in comparison) graphics of the DS or go for the bulkier but great graphics of the PSP? The battle lines were drawn and people picked their sides. On the console side, after Microsoft entered the gaming scene with the Xbox, Sony and Nintendo knew they had to redesign their consoles as well and out came the Xbox 360, the bulkier Playstation 3, and the Wii.

As the wars raged on, it was clear that Nintendo had hit the lottery with their new system and method of gameplay. People didn't care if the graphics were poor in comparison or if the games were limited. All they cared about was that the Wii brought them off the couch and on their feet. As a result, the Wii was a runaway success and is still popular today that Nintendo still can't make them fast enough. As Microsoft and Sony went head to head in a battle of brains to produce better microprocessors and screamingly fast bus speeds, hardcore gamers rejoiced at the better graphics and moaned about the exorbitant prices but it was clear that the general consumer did not want to spend a lot of money on what is perceived as a trivial activity to pass the time.

The Wii began to dominate the market in a way that seemed almost foolhardy. You put decent graphics, provide a widely available DVD drive but change the most simplistic of gaming devices, the controller, and it gives you a formula for success that no one expected. As more people want to get up and interact with video games, it seems clear that the days of staying in the same seat for hours on end is drawing to a close. Surely there will still be those hardcore gamers, but they will soon become the minority rather than the norm. How exactly is this going to happen? You're going to have to wait to find out.

Miniature Tech -- Part 3

2009-05-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

In continuing with our efforts to make things smaller and smaller, I wanted to take a look at what the future holds in store for such technology. Currently, this would be Nano Technology, and it seems to be paving the way in everything from electronics to auto repair to medicine and the treatment of diseases.

The below video takes a look at how nano technology is being researched for possible uses tomorrow and some of the challenges being faced.

Even in complex areas such as DNA, nano technology is paving the way for what could become a revolutionary way to look at health care whereby DNA might soon be replicated in the laoratory and then implanted into a human as if it were always there. The first stages of rebuilding DNA are described in a paper by Shawn Douglas (titled "Self-assembly of DNA into nanoscale three-dimensional shapes") and his colleagues at William Shih’s lab.

It will be interesting to see what is put forth next in this new world of nanotechnology.

Miniature Tech Part 2

2009-05-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

As promised, this is part 2 of a series of posts about technology in computing getting smaller and smaller. If you thought the Sony Vaio P was small, wait 'till you hear about this. Imagine a full fledged computer on your hand. I'm not talking about smart phones or the iPhone, but rather, a complete computer, with all the graphics power and speed of a desktop, into the palm of your hand. Imagine being able to carry around your computer in your wallet (hopefully you don't sit on it).

A company called Toradex has made that happen with their credit-card sized motherboards where most of the contents of a full sized motherboard are placed onto a board the size of a regular credit card. All this became possible only after Intel released their Atom processor and it looks like that tiny chip is revoluionizing the mobile computing industry. With all the regular amenities one would expect on a general motherboard, including usb ports, gigabit ethernet, sound card, and video card support, we could be looking at a motherboard that can be fitted almost anywhere.

If that wasn't reason enough to check out what the future holds in store for us, then maybe this will tickle your fancy. Its not just a plug that happens to have no wires. It is a plug-in computer that needs no wires. The concept behind this little magic box is that you can have an entire server that you can plug into a wall socket and be ready to receive whatever content is in it. A basic operating system, linked to solid state storage and a wireless crad all housed in the socket will make this the ideal media center service there is.

In addition, the company, Marvel electronics is touting this device to be green compliant since it will use as little as 5 watts of power.

The future of computing looks promising to say the least and it will only be a matter of time before some new invention comes along that revolutionizes the industry that the Intel Atom chip has done. You could almost say that now smaller is better.

Miniature Tech Part 1

2009-04-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

As technology moves ahead, through the recession and into new frontiers, size is becoming an issue (as it always has been, no pun intended) and manufacturers and consumers are trying to push the boundaries of how accessible they wan to be and how much information and data they want to store. As data storage increases and people are more adept to mobile computing, the size of such devices is becoming smaller every year.

This is the first of a multi-part blog post that will check out the current standards and make way for what we could expect in the not too distant future. Intel's line of Atom processors, that were discussed in my post about Netbooks are paving the way for smaller computers that can do more with less space. I will not be surprised if Atom processors soon find their way into cell phones, although that industry is currently dominated by the likes of QuallComm, Texas Instruments, Motorola, and others.

Sony recently unveiled their Vaio P, a miniature version of a Netbook; basically making a mini out of a mini. I fail to see how that is possible but technology is supposed to get twice as fast and twice as small every two years. This little marvel comes with a beautiful 1600 x 786 pixel 8 inch screen, 1.33Ghz processor, 2GB DDR2 ram, a 60GB harddrive and even Wireless N. Damn. Even though it is priced at around $900, the reality of miniature laptops such as the Sony Vaio P or the Macbook Air is that innovation is neverending.

Now if you thought that was cool, then check out the rumors about the new Amazon Kindle 3, expected to be more powerful, with a complete touch screen, and probably even the ability to enter data ... meaning that people will create and view data wherever and whenever. Add a sim card to that mix and you have broadband access for truly being connected 24/7.

Mobile computing is the way of the future regardless of how much people might choose to disagree with it. A perfect exammple would be these blog posts. I tend to write these on my Windows Mobile phone while on the metro or in some mindless speech and then simply upload it to Blogger. The host of possibilities for the future is incredible, with better battery packs, to more power friendly Organic LED screens and better processors that can run faster and still use less juice than ever before. These opportunities open up the possibilties for open source software among other things.

My next post will explore the possibilities of smaller computing and even lifestyle changing functional prototypes.

Cell Tech

2009-04-21T17:27:00.000-07:00

What if there were a way to go to that dark corner of your basement and still get signal on your cell phone, in case the boogie man comes out to get you of course. What if this were possible without a gigantic cellular tower in your back yard? Well it just might be possible with the help of something called a femtocell.

First off, you don't need to take another biology class to figure out what a femtocell is. With that out of the way, allow me to elaborate. A femtocell is basically like a special wireless router that acts as a miniature cellular tower. It has the range of around 15 meters, making it ideal for the home. Oh, and it is as small as a residential wireless router too.

Say your house is usually a dead spot, and as soon as you walk in the front door, you lose signal. This is where the femtocell will come in handy. Now, if you have one of these little buggers connected; as soon as you walk into your house, your cell phone will jump from the cellular tower to the femtocell signal and it will send your signal through the internet to your carrier's servers and vice versa.

Although femtocells are still quite pricey (~$200) even after being subsidized, they still represent a step in the right direction. Imagine an entire community with a femtocell built into every wireless router. Dead spots would almost be completely eliminated...except, of course, if you are in the desert.

Mind Tech

2009-04-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

Hollywood has a way of getting us excited about things that are not real. People flying, super-human strength, insane stunts that would almost always kill you if attempted in real life, mind reading, disappearing...wait, did I say mind reading was not real? Oops.

Okay, we're not talking abilities such as the likes of Magneto from X-Men, but that may not be too far into the future either. What I am talking about is being able to control robots and other such things with one's mind. It has been proven to be possible, though primitive in control. Believe it or not, Honda is behind this major innovation with help from a tech company called Shimadzu and a research firm called ATR.

So can I control my civic with my head now? No.

If you know a thing or two about Honda, you would be aware of their advances in robotic technology when mimicking human behavior or actions through their robot ASIMO. Their new method of mind control involves giving instructions to ASIMO with one's thoughts alone.[This image hopelessly jacked from: http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/03/31/humans-can-now-control-robots-by-thoughts-alone-video/]
The user wears a helmet that checks (take a deep breath) electroencephalography or EEG that measures minute electrical activity near the scalp and also near-infrared spectroscopy or NIRS to measure blood flow. The measurements are compared with pre-sets for certain things such as arm movement or leg movement and are then relayed to ASIMO.

Even though this technology is in its primitive stages, it shows a world of possibility and gives Hollywood a run for its money at the same time.

I know what you're thinking!

Copper Tech

2009-03-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

Ericsson recently did what few thought was possible. The guys (and gals) at Ericsson have successfully tested some new technologies that will ultimately allow copper wire to transmit data at speeds of up to 500 Mega bits per second (Mbps). Yes, that is two zeros.

What is even more surprising is that this is a form of DSL technology. DSL, usually much slower than cable and even more slower than the new fiber optic networks being laid down, can become a wave of change when this technology hits manufacturers and internet providers. To accomplish this, Ericsson used a technology called VDSL2 or Vectorized DSL2. In more layman's terms, it is also called crosstalk cancellation. (That didn't help me out either)

What VDSL2 or Crosstalk Cancellation means is the interference and data loss usually associated with copper wire is removed or taken out of the equation. What you end up with is pure data without any interference. This means that the bandwidth usually taken up by the noise and interference can now be used to transmit more data.

I think its best if we don't delve into the technicalities of the matter.

Here is a video to better understand bandwidth.

Either way, be sure to expect much higher bandwidth in the not so distant future.

BMW Saves...

2009-03-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

Who would have ever thought that "BMW" and "save" could be used in the same sentence positively. Now don't worry, BMW is not lowering the price of their vehicles (dammit) but they are taking a step in the right direction...the green direction that is. The engineers at BMW's Efficient Dynamics program have, with the help of NASA, figured out a way to increase the amount of power available to the car.

NASA developed a similar system for their satellites in space called thermo-electric generators whereby the heat generated from radioactive materials is turned into electricity. BMW has taken that technology to the next step by figuring out how to implement that in their product lineup. It seems they have succeeded in their efforts and are currently known to have a working prototype of the system in their hands...or under their test cars for that matter.This is how they are supposed to work

The BMW version is set up to convert the otherwise wasted energy of exhaust gas heat into electricity and provide an estimated 200 watts of power and about 5% better fuel economy. That 200 watts might not seem like much but it can be used to power fuel economy hoggers like the Air Conditioning or cabin fixtures.

The 5% on the other hand might also not seem like much but it is much more efficient than regenerative braking and start-stop engine management. Combine them all together and anything else BMW has up its sleeves and we could see a very useful and somewhat more efficient 7 Series cruising through the streets.

Goal line Tech

2009-03-04T15:00:00.000-08:00

I recently discovered that England's Football Association (FA) (as in Soccer) have decided to re-visit the notion of goal line technology. To most of us across the ocean, this means little if nothing, but across the world, Football (Soccer) is as common and established as seeing a Starbucks at every street corner in New York city. Wonder how crazy all the business men and women would react if they didn't their morning fix of coffee? Its about as crazy as Soccer fans get when it comes to that sport. Bottom line...you don't want to know.

Anyway, the FA has decided to try out what it would be like if there are little tiny sensors in every soccer ball that will alert the referees when the ball has crossed the goal line. (For more information about the new soccer ball, check out this previous post)
The idea is to have tiny sensors on the field at either end of the goal line (refer to picture above) or by the edges of the goal posts and also another sensor in the actual soccer ball. This way, there will be no need for second guessing or relying on the eyes of other referees or improper camera angles to figure out exactly if there was a goal or not.

A side benefit to adding sensors to the field is that they can also be used to determine if the soccer ball has gone out of bounds on either side. The only issues that arise are how the sensor(s) will be placed in the soccer ball without disintegrating when a player kicks the ball and also how expensive this technology will be.

One thing is certain: the game will go on sensor or no sensor.

Smart Grid Tech

2009-02-23T08:30:00.000-08:00

Think of Smart Grid technology as a power supply grid with a brain. It thinks on its own not to decide who gets power but to figure out how best to efficiently run and use power across the grid. Many governments and companies are pushing for such an investment into our own power grid that was designed over a 100 years ago with little change since.

However, with help from advanced sensors, multiple ways of communication, and distributed computing technology, it is possible to be able to move the power grid of the yesteryear into the future and in the process, save some green. Literally.

By incorporating digital meters linked to a wireless mesh network, utility companies can monitor consumption and usage in real time and reduce wasted electricity. The first use of such technology was in the Telegestore project in Italy where the utility company developed their own meters, sensors, and software. Although highly unusual for a company to do that, the project ended up saving them more than $500 million per year.

For more information, check out GE's take on Smart Grid technology and also be sure to check out Experience's Green Blogs for all stuff green related:
Green 101
Green Your Future
To Green or not to Green

Telephone Tech

2009-02-12T17:00:00.000-08:00

We all know the automated telephone system and how much of a pain it can be to get to the operator or some call center guy in some distant land getting paid below minimum wage according to U.S. standards. What if that same annoyingly friendly tone suddenly greeted you by your name and actually pronounced it right? What if that same tone knew what information you are most probably looking for?

That hope is not too far away. American Airlines (of all companies) have introduced the Remember Me system that is at its core, an automated answering machine. The difference between this and the one that plays cheesy classical music to you for hours is that this one will greet you by name and automatically link your number to your AAdvantage account so that it tells you relevant information like your flight time and also about any delays. After all, that is what we call about most of the time anyway.

This is part of American Airlines new push to make things more streamlined and also save some money as they will have have fewer phone operators. If you're interested in a career in this field, then be sure to check out Experience's job postings.

Ski Tech

2009-02-09T19:35:00.000-08:00

Lets face it, baby boomers are getting older (and supposedly wiser) but they still want to do everything as if they were back in their 20s. This includes skiing and its common for people to be skiing well into their seventies. That is because of the way ski resorts are beginning to realize that baby boomers still want to have fun on the slopes and are now adapting said slopes for this reason.
Hourglass skis, like the ones shown above, are paving the way for skiers of a more mature age to have more control and speed on the slopes. Apparently they make you feel like you're 20 on the slopes. So much for botox. More ski resorts are equipping themselves with these skis mainly for senior citizens and also offering senior citizen discounts to encourage more skiing. In addition to this, custom made boots with heating elements built in are also becoming the trend rather than the exception.

If that's not enough, some resorts are also using better grooming technology, that is, the way the snow/fake snow is shaped on the mountain, to make turning and such maneuvers easier on the knees for seniors.

With all this going on, it won't be a surprise to see grandparents hit the slopes and teach all us young people a thing or two about skiing. Maybe grandpa will take on some kid in a race down the slopes now.