Archive for: technology
Love gadgets, technology, all things nerdy, and happen to live in the Michiana (northern Indiana/southern Michigan) area? If so, stop on by Between The Buns in Granger on Monday, May 16th from 6-9pm for the first official Michiana Tech Meetup. We’ll talk about tech, show off tech, and of course eat. Hope to see you there!
For more information and future events, check out the Michiana Tech Meetup Facebook Fan Page.
Facebook Event Page: Michiana Tech Meetup #1
Directions: Google Maps
This evenings topic for most ridiculous news item of the day is brought to us by The Times and an interview they had with John Bonjovi. It seems John here hasn’t learned past classic rockers’ mistakes. That is, he spends a good chunk of his interview lambasting Steve Jobs (and in a more broader sense, the digital music scene) for “killing the music experience/business”. According to John, the days of saving up money to buy an album based on the jacket (that’s cover art for you young-ins) and spending an hour or more listening to a said compilation without distraction is gone — all thanks to Steve Jobs.
- February 13, 2011 11:16 am
Sony kicked off their MWC celebrations with a bang by officially announcing the Xperia Play (aka: “Playstation Phone”) Featuring a 4″ 480 x 854 display, 1GHz Snapdragon processor + Adreno GPU, 512MB of RAM, and 5-megapixel camera, the Xperia Play is meant to turn heads. While we would have personally liked to see SE go one further than the competition spec-wise, we can’t dismiss the power on hand. Add in a capable OS — Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) — and you’ve got quite a mobile gaming machine. Wireless coverage is provided by 3G, WiFi (w/ hotspot functionality), Bluetooth 2.1, and GPS/aGPS.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play will ship drop on Verizon Wireless this coming March for an as of yet undisclosed price.
- December 17, 2010 7:16 am
We may all drool over the latest and greatest PC hardware as it trickles onto the web, but quite honestly, it’s the same story year after year. More transistors, more cores, more efficiency combined with more processing power. The real excitement however, will come when scientists finally unlock quantum computing for the masses. The potential of such technology has far reaching and incredibly powerful potential. And thanks to the help of several intelligent physicists at the University of Utah, we are now one step closer to such technology…
I’m kind of a nerd if you can’t tell. Part of that nerdiness is soaking in as much technology-based information that I can. What is more technology focused than the internet? It’s enabled and created countless ideas, products, and services. And still, decades after its inception, it’s still a growing giant. So without further adieu, jump inside for a lovely little infograph (We love infographs…) that breaks down the history of the internet all the way back from the “Intergalactic Network” of ’62 to the modern mobile web surfing days of ’09…
Have you hugged a tree today? If not, don’t fret. Simply pick up a pair of the Orange Power Wellies boots — a pair of boots that uses heat from every foot step to recharge your phone.
I often forget to bring my charging cable with me, resulting in a power depleted phone by midday. Though I doubt I’d ever forget my feet (unless someone else was using them of course). Precisely the phone accessory I could use. However, the reported 12-hour stomp session that only nets you an hour of charge time is kind of disappointing. But it’s a prototype so I’ll let it slide.
- February 12, 2010 5:54 am
I love gadgets. Check, we know that. Chocolate. Yup, we’ve gone over that too. But cars? Ya, I Iike cars too — futuristic, gadget/electronic filled cars. Out of all the car manufacturers you would expect to hear unveiling a super teched out car, Kia has this time stolen my attention with the Ray.
The Ray screams futuristic. Just look at it. The Ray isn’t all looks however. Atop it’s 173″ long body sit two very large pieces of glass coated in photovoltaic cells. Initially, these large solar panel-like contraptions are meant to power the HVAC system. Though rolling over into actually battery storage for propulsion is possible as well, with the Ray capable of going up to 50 miles on electric alone and gives the car a rough estimation of 202 MPG. Don’t forget, electric/hybrid cars have vastly different operating features and functions and as such, require a totally different method for testing.
Cutting through it all however will yield one simple conclusion — the Kia Ray is beyond cool, both in it’s solar abilities and physic looks. I just hope that as the Ray moves from concept to actual product, the designers don’t dumb down the look of the car too much. Though I’m pretty certain those large glass slabs will be drastically reduced due to the usual design/feature killing safety standards. Gotta be safe I guess, right….?
Ubergizmo > AutoBlog
- December 17, 2009 9:00 am
I can certainly appreciate the hard work that most road construction workers do. Rain or shine, hot or cold, those guys and gals are out there in elements that most of us simple hate, doing hard physical labor. But as technology advances, we’re going to find more mundane and physical jobs taken out of the mix, replaced with robotic counterparts. Such is the scenario the “Road Printer” depicts.
The nifty thing about this little space lander-esque device is that it packs everything inside needed to go all artsy on the streets. With local paint storage, big buttons — so big you could push them with your boot in fact — and a big solar panel atop it’s head, the Road Printer makes quite a case for itself. The solar panel in particular is a nice touch, making it fully autonomous and self suficient. Well, that is until the paint runs out and the skies go dark.
When we eventually see such a device, look for bigger cities and those with plenty of excess cash to pick these up first with smaller towns falling in somewhere down the timeline. You know, even though I’m not part of any street department or local municipal services, I wouldn’t mind getting a Road Printer and doing some crafty things on my driveway. A modern Picaso I am…
Ubergizmo > YankoDesign
You know, with each and every “far out there” or geeky invention I see come forth from the great island way out east, I find myself second guessing my decision of staying here in the states. Of course, I don’t have too many options at the moment, finishing school and all. But nothing can quite compare to the uniquely weird things that Japan’s greatest minds put forth. Case in point: AR equipped vending machines. If you though AR was just for mobile devices and happened to stroll by one of currently three test locations for Tokyo’s latest craze, you’d be dumbfounded and awestruck to say the least.
Instead of merely choosing a product, slipping in some money, and walking off with your delectable treat, citizens of Tokyo can now interact with their food (didn’t your mother always tell you not to play with your food…?) in ways that should make any nerd quiver with unabated excitement. The first of many things that make’s Japan’s tech scene so much better than ours in regards to AR equipped vending machines is — (1) Customers can bring a printed or digital (on phone screen) copy of a QR code to a vending machine, scan it in and receive a free product sample. The road keeps going however with (2) an expanded experience as after buying any product, holding it within eye’s reach of your smart vending machine will ‘splay across the machine a visual symphony of infographs attempting to draw you deeper in, wanting and needing to spend more.
At the very least, it’s a novel concept that ads ever more flare and geekery to a typical Japanese citizen’s daily lives. Hey, I’m far from complaining or mocking. Hell, their vending machines have AR! I’m stuck here in northing Indiana wondering why I can’t get a damn traffic controlled light at the end of my block in the year 2009. We’ve all been there, the lone red light that waits for no one. See you in Tokyo…
Gizmodo > Uberigizmo > TechOn
