Sony anounced today its new range of Internet TVs that are being powered by GoogleTV
It comes with a keyboard remote that has a querty keypad, a mouse pad and generally reminds me of a Playstation controller.
Engadget was able to go hands-on already so check out the video below:
I believe Internet TVs are the future and this seems to be a great step into the right direction.
Sony is hitting the ground running too as the new TVs will be available in the US from this weekend and will cost from USD399 (24”) to USD1399 (46”) – With the Aussie dollar being strong there might be a bargain in here
Microsoft Research always has some cool stuff to show and this time it is called Light Space.
Just imaging a room that is monitored by depth sensing cameras and projections that react like a surface table on any old surface.
But not only that – just grab some content from the table projection and move it to the wall by simply touching it. Not quite as smooth as Tom Cruise did in Minority Report, but it is a first step.
Adobe just showcased and amazing “extra” lens that is inserted between your camera’s usual lens and its sensor and with their “magical” software you can now focus on a different part of the picture after you have taken it.
So I can give my camera to my wife to take a picture without having to worry about the result
The plenoptic lens is composed of a litany of tiny "sub-lenses," which allow those precious photons you’re capturing to be recorded from multiple perspectives. The result is that you get a bunch more data in your image and an "infinite" depth of field, meaning you can toggle at what distance you want your image to be focused after the act of taking it.
check out the demo here
unfortunately this is still a long way away from hitting the commercial market, but one day we can all take pictures and focus on the important stuff later.
This is a concept mobile phone of the future that was put together by Billy May. He gathered community feedback and followed up on some rather mundane visions for the mobile future to bring us the Mozilla Seabird.
The big innovation is the use of dual pico projectors on the side of the handset, which can provide different functionality based on the phone’s orientation: flat on a table they pump out the two halves of a QWERTY keyboard, up on a dock they offer the dual purpose of a large viewing screen above and a seamless projected keyboard below. Other features, like the pop-out wireless pointer / Bluetooth headset are slightly less realistic but no less charming.
unfortunately Mozilla is not planning on building this phone (or any other phone for that matter)
But check out the video – what I like is that it runs Android, but when you dock it it runs Windows 7 – nice!
I have seen concepts from this company before (more about this below) and they always seem to be taking different approaches to the rest of the world.
The Astonishing Tribe (TAT) has yet again showcased a UI they call Velvet – pull out a widget or Google Maps query, and a sheet of your desired result waves with the virtual wind, before stretching out flat for you to more comfortably interact with.
This is what TAT has to say about the Tablet UIs out there and why they are different:
On one hand we have companies that scale phone UIs to tablets. On the other hand we have companies offering the full blown desktop experience scaled down to tablet size. We believe that both of these approaches will result in crippled user experiences. For example, the tablet form factor is perfect for media consumption and this could be manifested in the UI. TAT recognizes tablets as a radically different type of device – personal and mobile yet powerful and creative. We are now on a quest to design fantastic UIs that are optimized for this device space.
Here is the Velvet UI in action
As I said before these guys have some pretty awesome, yet radical ideas – check this augmented reality ID out – TAT augmented ID
I have an Android phone and I have been looking for a decent home screen and I really hope this little beauty will hit the market at some time soon – TAT Home
These guys are definitely someone to look out for in the future – if you want to learn more about them, check out their blog
Imagine being able to feel the buttons on your mobile when you slide them across the screen or feeling the material as wood, metal or stone.
Toshiba’s working on just such a project, which operates on the basis of a film affixed to your smartphone’s touch panel. Electrical currents are sent through this layer, and your fingers are shot up with the simulated sensation of touching those various surfaces.
And it is not fiction anymore as they have a working prototype and they weren’t shy to show it off.
In my line of work (and because I love it) I come across a lot of cool gadgets and usually (at least if you ask my wife) I spend too much money on them.
So this year I will follow my moms advice and make myself a list.
Usually I start these lists with the least and work my way up to the best, but I want to start with the device I really really want this year.
1. Samsung Galaxy S
I have been using my 8310 blackberry for too long and for a while there I was carrying around 3 devices to do my phonecalls, emails and browsing and gaming, but the Samsung will be able to do all that.
So why do I want it?
for a start I don’t like the iPhone (don’t get me wrong I think it is a good phone for “normal” users), but it just doesn’t do what i want from a phone.
apart from that here is my shortlist on why I want it:
* 4 inch WVGA Super Amoled screen (finally a device i can use outside) * big (as in big capacity) battery – 1500mAh * 16GB internal memory + extendable with micro sd * wireless n * camera capable of 720p video @ 30fps * support of MPeg4, H.263, H.264, WMV, RV, DivX, Xvid and MKV – no more converting movies * Samsung Social Hub – no more opening up app after app after app – I just have it all in one inbox – sweet
2. Tablet
I had a chance to play with the iPad for a few weeks now and I have to say I am not impressed – especially since Apple announced the AU pricing for it today and again, Australia gets screwed – all you really get is a big iPod
Even though Apple’s Steve Jobs was very clear about not liking a stylus, it looks like Microsoft Research went back to it to combine it with touch input and give the user new tools that weren’t possible before.
Of course this comes from the research department and might never see the day of life, but it looks awesome and I can see this “addition of the past” bringing some useful things to the end user.
The Human Media Lab at Queen’s University in Ontario wants to use slim, networked touchscreen hexagonal tiles with edge-to-edge OLED displays to play the games.
Check out the video below where they demo the idea by “faking” the hexagons with projectors, because the tech out there is not quite there yet.
Also even if the tech would be around already your board game would be about $1000
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