Nathan

Solid hologram touchscreens

The SCH-W559 "Anycall" isn't any normal phone. It has no buttons. By using advanced concepts that are both innovative yet simple, the phone can actually simulate the feeling of you pressing a button on a touchscreen. Through a complex series of vibrations made by an electromagnetic field generated by a copper ring bouncing a magnet mounted to a spring. As a result, the phone can make sudden, jerky vibrations that may only last for a tiny fraction of a second, but can provide the resistance of a real button.

The phone initially senses the position of your touch using an ultrathin layer of conductive material. When you apply minimal force, the electric current is disrupted, and the phone can recognize where you touched. As you touch, the phone vibrates in such a way that while being nearly imperceptible, the vibration is a nearly perfect recreation of the feel and resistance that a button would normally provide.

CES:2007 best of show items

Some of the items that interested me from the 2007 CES Exposition:

LG BH100: This DVD player plays both HD-DVDs and Blu-Ray disks, all in one convenient tray. This will probably impractical for now, likely coming in over $2000, but the prices should lower as the technology of both HD-DVDs and Blu Ray disks becomes both more advanced and convenient.

iRobot Create: Predecessors of the iRobot Create, such as the robotic vacuum cleaner, lawnmower, or the recreational Robosapien series had long been victims of being hacked, and made to do some
(rather funny) things  that the origional design did not call for. The systems in the robot often crashed and glitched. The iRobot Create, however, is specifically made for just that. It comes with many ports of all types, and pretty much anything can be hooked up to it. Additional sensors, microprocessors, and mechanical appendages can all be added without much difficulty.

Sharp Aquos 108-inch LCD HDTV: Yes, it's the world's largest mass-manufactured LCD HDTV. Coming in at a hefty 9 feet long, Aquos pioneers how flat and big things can be made. Quoting Popsci:

"The benches directly in front of the screens were rarely void of droolers, eyeing demo HD footage consisting mostly of water skis, speedboats, jet skis … you get the idea."

The only thing that I can imagine will hinder this will be it's price tag. Ouch...

HP Mediasmart server and Windows Home Server: HP Unvieled its Mediasmart server, complemented by Microsoft's Windows Home Server. During Bill Gates' communal address, Popsci just managed to glean out that the Windows Home Server system will be availible for personal computers within the year, before they fell asleep. The advantages of complementing one of your faster computers with a server upgrade include automatic backups, greatly eased networking and file sharing, and the ability to remotely access your files on your PC's from any workstation, phone, or computer with an internet connection.

Finally, and most interstingly (in my opinion), we have the product of the constant drive to jam more into a smaller space: the OQO Model 02. Keep in mind that this is the world's smallest mass-manufactured laptop. Some people may mistake it for a large iPod or Blackberry, but no, it is fully capable of internet, Windows Vista, it has an imbedded trackball mouse and USB ports for a real one, and likely has a surprisingly large hard drive.

Sdenote: thanks to Popsci for poviding the information on all these thigns, although everything here is written by me and only me, except for the quote. I try to maintain standards of non-plagerism, and when I do quote, you can always see the quotation marks.

The New Nokia

This new model of cell phone from Nokia, the N93, not only has all the amenities of regular cell phones, but it also has Wi-Fi, video and voice recording. Many news companies may seek this out as a multi-tool for their reporters. Nothing is free though, and the useful features of the tool come at a price, a good $700.

I know what I want for Christmas...finally.

           
     

The game is called "Spore", and by the look of it, I  want it. A lot. Please forgive typos, the internet connection is having some trouble.

In this game you can build an entire race, from single-celled, to aquatic, to reptile, to intelligent brings, and the scale ranges from subatomic to galaxy-clusters, though you cant really look much farther than the ground once your race has evolved into land animals.

Every galaxy has hundereds of solar systems which in turn have thein own planets, independent races (if you want, they can be turned off in the options menu or with your races own Death Star), and very planet is just as detailed as your hom planet, which is very much so for such a huge game.

You literally choose how your race will evolve, from altering the environement to their bodily structure. If you create seperate races they may feud or make peace, all accoring to your whims. You have to watch out though, other planets may not be very happy about being invaded. In fact, some other races that evolve independently may claim an entire solar system as their own.

In this video, the creator of Spore whose name I forgot exhibits how he brings his creature to be a three-legged, scorpion-like lizard thing. Cities are built, they attack eachother, build spaceships, attack other races in other solar systems, destroy entire planets, terraform rocks, and expirement with the effects of complete space exposure on a poor spider-animal.

My favorite picks from the Megagoods 2.0 2006 review

Here is a sampling of a few of the most fascinating goodies from the November Megagoods 2.0 review from Popsci.com:

 
Literally throwing the tent: The new 2-Second Air from Quechua of France is the solution to all camping crises; most people have observed, or worse, experienced the annoyances of trying to assemble some tents. This tent assembles in the 2 seconds that it flies. You throw it into the air, not unlike a big Frisbee, and like magic, it is ready for you to climb into and hide from the bears before it even hits the ground.

 
http://decathlontent.com/, 69US$ from Quechua.

 
The Hippie flash drive: Not only does this odd flash drive come in sizes up to 1 Gigabyte of memory, it also comes in what will become your favorite chunk of wood. These peppy little sapling chunks are precision milled to contain a powerful flash drive. Watch your coworkers faces when you plug a section of an oak branch into their USB port.

 
oooms.nl 57-90US$

 
This one doesn’t shatter: When you really have a need for a rugged laptop, perhaps if your going to go be a journalist in some Middle-Eastern country, you need the General Dynamics GoBook XR-1, the incredibly durable notepad. The little thing can survive a terminal velocity impact, and it completely water, sand, and idiot proof.

 
gd-computing.com $4,330

Go to Popsci.com and look at the Megagoods 2.0 review