Lost Generatoin - AARP Video

So this isn't techy or cutting edge but I feel it is appropriate to share on a blog relating to our generation.  This was a video submitted by a 20yr old for a competition titled "U @ 50" at an AARP meeting.  A friend shared it with me, I enjoyed it and felt it was worth passing on. Blow it up to full screen to read the text. Feel free to share your comments below.

Google Voice - Another piece of your life google now owns

Google voice is a single phone number that will find you anywere. It is tied into your google account and has some pretty neat fetures, including voicemail as email with transcripts, full sms functionality, and the ability to screen calls, among many others.  There are several services that will do this for you now (I use YouMail) but the beauty is that with google, its all free and in one neat and tidy place.  If you poke around on the beta "About" site (Google Voice) they have some quick demo vids of the different features, which are all pretty cool.  The service is still in a closed Beta only available to previous Grand Central users (Where The tech came from, google aquired in 2007) but you leave your email and they will let you know when its available.  

The coolest thing about this in my opinion is the ability to have a single number that can follow you anywhere you already have a phone.  This would be nice for  anyone with multiple phones (cell or home), especially for people who actually use their home phones, as they wont have to run around the house looking for their cell phone if someone wants to get ahold of them. uld alleviate some of my telemarker headaches. A well thoughtout feature is the "Forwarding Phones" that allows you to choose which phone will ring based on who is calling, for instance you can set up your "Friends" to ring every phone, while "work" and "other" may just ring you office or cell phone.  I will take some testing to detemine if I would want this to by my Main number, but does have some pretty neat call screening features that would alleviate some of my telemarkert headaches.

I look forward to playing and sharing my results. 

Here is a teaser of the "Forwarding Phones" Feature:

Microsoft's "Laura" - Your New Virtual Assistant

Engadget posted a link to a Beet.TV interview of a Microsoft employee talking about a new integration of technology called "Laura". She is a virtual assistant that can interpret your speech, movements, clothing, and can handle multiple interactions at once.  I know that I need a personal assistant, and if I can get one that never sleeps it’s even better!  I see the future of this technology allowing you to offload simple tasks, such as finding the cheapest non-stop flight from ORD to LAX on a specific day/time or finding a time for group members to meet (given that they share their calendar with you). This could be incredibly helpful for even personal tasks such as creating a list of 4 and 5 star steak houses within a 10 mile radius, purchasing movie tickets, or finding the weather forecast for your vacation spot. Any task in which the results could be compiled and reviewed later, letting "her" take on the tasks while you do real work.

 

Looking further into the future if businesses had a "Laura" interface in their system, you could have her make dinner reservations, research the availability of products before you went to the store, or even setup your dry cleaning pickup and delivery.  Talk about exchange/outlook on Roids!

 

There are a lot of interesting things that could be done with this and I am excited to see where it goes.

 

Check out the video for a somewhat lackluster demo.

Self Inflating Tire... Yeah, you will own this one day!

AutoBlog reported on the "Tire Technology of the Year Award" with the SIT (Self Inflating Tire) bringing home the award at the 2009 Tire Technology Awards for Innovation and Excellence. It is quite an impressive concept and could lead to noticiable fuel economy and safety improvemets. I am one of the few people I know that checks their tire pressure every time they fill up, and on my Honda Ridgeline any tweaking that improves mileage is worth my time. I end up having to adjust my tires each time I fill as they slip a few fractions of a PSI in one directoin or another. This technology would compeltely remove the need to ever touch your tires (assuming you dont get a flat). Its self inflating system relies on the rotation of the tire, not compressors or storage tanks, to keep the tires at the perfect pressure. It is a great concept and I hope they can get them opperating at 100mph and out on the roads.

Jump over to the company's website to get more info and watch a video explanation.

Chumby Finally Making Some Moves!

So Engadget has reported that our cuddly tech friend the Chumby is finally making its way onto some more readable screens, most notably our TV's. It has always made sense to me that they port their incredibly robust "widget" platform onto other, more accessible devices. Fortunately this seems to be real as they are partnering with Broadcom to deliver their widgets to the System-On-a-Chip (SoC) products that they are rolling out. All we need now is a manufacturer to buy-in and you will have your Facebook photos and Pandora streaming straight to a TV set near you. Check out the video for a better explanation.

I see this as a cool tool to lay over CNN or MSNBC while drinking your morning coffee or to play videos or music over your TV channels adding value to that cable subscription you pay for every month (assuming the chipset will support audio and licensing will allow for Pandora to run on the platform). I look forward to seeing where this goes!

WOW... Go Verizon?

So I thought this was interesting enough to share. Just watch and let me know your opinion of what is going on....




I would never leave Verizon if this happened to me, but I am not sure I would ever get Verizon to begin with. I need my international freedom!!

zBoost YX510 - First Impressions (Crossing my fingers)

I live in an apartment on the inside of a group of buildings overlooking a pool. While this is great for reducing the noise from the highway and provides a great view to wake up to in the morning, it does not help my cell phone reception being buried within thick walls of concrete. I had the occasional problem with EDGE on my AT&T Blackberry 8310, but now that I upgraded to a Bold the 3G reception is pitiful at best. During a 30 minute phone call I can expect anywhere from 2-5 "called failed" messages (I had a friend with an iPhone 3G here over the weekend and he experienced the same problem, actually a little worse). I recently decided I have had enough of intermittent conversations and I purchased a zBoost YX510 in an attempt to boost my signal and mitigate the always fatal 3G/2G hand off that kills my calls. I just managed to install it in what seems to be the best position for my situation (requires significant experimentation to find a reasonable placement) and so far I am hopeful at best. While my phone reads a full 5 bars (-70dBm) I have still experienced a couple dropped calls. I will continue to evaluate the product for another week and keep you updated on the progress. If you have any suggestions to improve the reception and my experience with with product please share! I would really like for this to work for me!

Google Latitude - Ultimate Location Tool or Creepy Evolution of Technology?

So Google has released "Google Latitude" which is an update to their Google Maps application for mobile devices that allows users to share their location with other users or "friends". This has been a long requested feature for Google maps ever since Loopt for the iPhone the app store. The beauty of this being a native feature to Google Maps is the ability to share with users across multiple device platforms, the software update works with most of the phones that previously had Google Maps functionality and will allow iPhone users to share their location with their Blackberry brethren and even their lesser counterparts using J2ME dumbphones. Once you join the Latitude Community (menu feature within the Google Maps app) by signing in using your google account you can build your friends list and decide who you want to be able to monitor your every move. I am not sure what the refresh rate is but this could possibly be a silent battery killer on phone that allow multi-threading. So far it looks like a fun toy and could be useful at large outdoor events like concerts or fairs to help you find your other group members.

Send your phones browser over to www.google.com/latitude to download the update.


UPDATE: After playing with the application for a bit and managing to convince a few friends to let me pry into their lives, I have decided that it needs a few feature enhancements. First, the friends list looks great but you can't call from it or send a message, so if you are trying to track someone down you have to navigate away from the app to make a call or send a message. Second, there is no casual way to add a friend to the map. If I am meeting up with someone that I wouldn't necessarily want to have constant access to my location, it would be nice to be able to send a one time "ping", whether it be through the application or SMS, to another person with my current location (similar to the "Send My Locatoin" feature in BBM).

I might step into the extra creepy zone but it would be cool if you could set alerts to tell you when one of your friends is within a certain distance or set "geo fences" and subsequent alerts.

Other than that, great work Google, I hope to see those updates shortly :)

The Final Nail in the DJ Coffin?

Activision has recently announced they are in the process of releasing "DJ Hero" and it is exactly what you would expect from the title. The controller is said to feel solid and will allow players to "play competitively and spin discs and mix songs."  Read over at Yahoo Tech for their report. The product is claimed to drop "later this year."  As a DJ, I am excited about this distraction but I hope that it doesnt cut into my bottom line as everyone believes they can be a DJ.

There is nothing sexier than headphones and lingerie!

So I wouldn't normally give airtime to such a ridiculous product but the fact that Sega Toys actually thinks there is a market for this made me laugh.  The "Love Trainer" is a variation of their FiTrainer that uses "biometrics" to "coach you to optimal performance" and "get over erectile dysfunction."  Featuring sounds bites such as "The love making will now begin" and "following the beat, make love much harder" and "Well done, lets make love more regularly" I really don't know how they could go wrong. Please note that I used quotations liberally to make it clear that I in no way endorse this product.

Checkout the video over at Engadget

Lenovo W700ds, something about enormous technology gets me excited

This might be my last post about the beast that is the W700ds, but don't count on it.  Engadget did a full up hands on review of a production unit and had some interesting things to say.  Surprisingly their review was overall positive, they actually think someone would be willing to move a 11lb laptop more than out of the box onto their desk (I guess you have to get your exercise somehow).  I would love to get my hands on one of these as I think it would be quite the spectacle to see this next to my little x61t. While it may help you improve your athleticism lugging it around, its computing prowess runs laps around the MacBook pro and x61t sitting on my desk.  Head over to Engadget to get the full writeup and a few videos of the behemoth in action.

Engadget Lenovo Thinkpad W700ds Review

"Projector Phones" are coming closer to market, but why?

I think we have established my obsession with PicoProjectors and associated technology, but I honestly don't believe that cell phones are the right place to put these things.  Samsung has given PopSci a hands on with its new "Show" aka W7900 and its an impressive device.  I just don't know how often you would use the projector other than showing it off for your work buddies or putting on your own personal light show at the clubs on Friday night.  Give me a portable unit with >10 lumens and over 4 hours of batter life so I can watch Titanic off my iPod in a power outage and I will be happy. Slap one on the back side of a Netbook or  strap it to a GPS for a heads up display but I think the cell phone industry needs to continue its path of engulfing the point and shoot camera market before it takes on the TV industry.  Read the posts over at Engadget and PopSci to get the rest of the specs.

Goverment Doing What It Should... Go Figure

Well acording to an article in The Huffington Post quoting an ABC News Report, Obama's administration told Citigroup that $50m on a private jet wasn't where they were expecting the $45b bailout to be invested.  I admit it sounds like an incredible airship but I have to agree with the president's administration that $50m could be used a bit more wisely. Hit the embedded link to read the story.

Site Simplified

We this isn’t groundbreaking news but you can now get to yThunk by simply hitting up www.ythunk.com !!

 

This is how the website will be accessed while I work on building its real home (which will be much more interesting). 

 

I am still working on wrapping up all my CES coverage and will have a bunch more up by the end of the week.

 

 

The Swiss Army Knife for the techy in all of us (well those with $330 to spare)

So I haven't left that darned CES E-Mail Station yet so here is another interesting product to further lighten you already empty wallet (who's isn't after CES?). Victorinox released a swiss army knife with more gadgets than even I thought possible, dubbed the "Presentation Pro"

This is what it includes:
-Knife
-File/Screwdriver
-Scissors
-32 GB Flash drive (yeah... 32gb) With Fingerpritnt Authentication
-Laser Pointer
-Bluetooth Presentation Remote

I am not sure where they managed to slip the battery for the BT and Laser but it seems to be a just about the length and width of the classic swiss army knife and about twice as thick.

Checkout Engadget for their take. (I didnt want to steal their picture)

Engadget: Victorinox Presentation Pro floated by the Swiss army

Delicious Chumby News - Although I take no credit

Well ever since I was graciously given my little leathery tech friend I have imagined a world where I could release the little guy from his tiny shell. And it seems like my good friends over at Samsung have set out to do just that. I will let Engadget to the rest of the talking since I don't need to so hit the link to read more.

Engadget: Samsung / Chumby prototype digiframe

Ok, back to typing on my Bold for the night. Expect a few more posts to crawl out over the next couple hours. What a wonderful day at CES, I cant wait to get off my feet and loose some money!

A few minutes of reprieve from my beloved Blackberry Keyboard

So I managed to get to a computer... Thank you CES for having the E-Mail Stations (Sponsored by Techwell). So I am going to try and catch up on everying that has been goin on that was too big for me to see on my blackberry... (ok, bad joke). Seriously though, my thumbs hurt, aswell as my feet and back but thats the CES burn!! I was catching up on my BGR and they had another article on Obama and his beloved blackberry. As an avid blackberry user myself I thought I would chip in my 2 cents.

I dont think there is any reason that he shouldn't have the device if the proper precautions are taken. Obvioulsy he wont need the GPS since he will no longer be in charge of any of his time and there has to be a way to mask his phone from cell tower triangulation (other than changing the sim every 20 min). Other than that I dont see it as too much of a security threat if he checks his personal mail and myspace page from his 9000 (I personally believe it would be embarassing for the president to have anything less). I know that he will have a few secconds of downtime now and then so why not let him spin up Viigo and check out BGR, Engadget, and yThunk while he can? Clearly he has the intellegence to keep those nuclear launch codes and national deficit numbers off the airwaves :)

I would love to hear people thoughts on this so please feel free to comment.

Picture for my Recharge

So the last post was supposed to have a picture attached.. Here it is. The post was more interesting with it included :)

Recharge

So I finally got a chance to sit down, eat lunch and crank out some posts. The show is as crazy as ever and most people I have talked to haven't noticed a real decline from last year's show. I thought I would take a few minutes to reflect on what I have seen so far before I jump back up and see the rest!

Trends:

Everyone is still trying to solve the IPTV problem and each has their own approach. I will do a Internet TV roundup later so I won't waste anymore keystrokes here.

Home control is still divided on communications standards. Some use ZiggBee, some are on Z-Wave, and others use proprietary RF, but none are really using IP.

Personal Audio is huge and growing fast, everyone is trying to make a better headphone and it seems like "high end" is becoming the standard. The iPhone has definitely devoured the PMP market though, there aren't even half the amount of companies here as two years ago trying to compete in that space.

CES never fails to amaze, even in hard economic times there are companies here that have displays that cost more than a NICE house.

Well I'm back to the floor! Ill be putting together more posts tonight!

Lots of USB Microphones

Analog is so passe... Several manufacturers have announced new USB microphones this year with the coolest one being the Samson Go Mic. Its a small condenser microphone that will sit on a desk or clip to the top of your laptop screen and allow for decent sound recording on the go. It even fold down into its self for easy transport. I doubt its studio quality but it should be great for voice-overs and podcasts. It has a dedicated headphone output for real time monitoring. Another device sharing that same feature is Shure's new X2u. Its a usb adapter that will hook up to any analog microphone and even provides phantom power. This is a nice portable unit that stays true to shure's high standards in build quality.

Coolest thing at CES (Pt 1)

So I have come across what is the coolest thing at the show so far. 3D Gaming and TV! NVidia has a demo of guitar hero shown on a samsung "true HD lcd" panel that runs at 120hz and the results are amazing! Mind you, you have to wear glasses for the effect, but it is truly impressive. I might actually get back into gaming when this becomes the norm. Apparently there are several manufacturers that are making compatible sets and most games will actually support it out of the box! I'm excited. Its something you truly have to see to believe as no picture or video would do it justice.

Bit LED Micro Projector from Atlantis (APSE-10A)

One of the trends I will be following at CES is Micro Projectors. The first one I came across is the APSE-10A from Atlantis. It is a little bit larger than a pack of cigarettes and had VGA resolution and a built-in battery pack to take it on the go (no word on battery life). The unit does not currently have any US resellers so who knows if we will ever see it in stores. I was impressed with the demo they had up and could see myself using one of these as a toy more than for professional presentations, but the technology is developing so who knows. Atlantis had their product road map up in their booth and are hoping to be moving to laser technology for their next line of micro projectors. This is an interesting option but I am looking forward to seeing the offerings from 3M and Dell. No price yet on this one.

Asus AiGuru SV1 Skype Video Phone

Asus has introduced a standalone skype video phone which seems to be pretty well implemented. I feel like they could have done more with the device to make it a little more versatile like adding a handset for skype voice calls or at least bluetooth so you can connect a headset. It has a battery powered option and wifi but its so big that I don't know who would take this thing mobile. Its nice to know a standalone video client can be done but this needs a couple rev's to be worthy of your cash.

Brother PT2430pc - Plug and Play label printing from your computer

So I chose something rather mundane to start out since I didn't want to get you too excited off the bat.

This little device is true plug and play since the software is actually stored on the device and launched when you plug it into your USB port (like flash drive based apps). It was incredibly fast at printing and since its on your computer you can add graphics to the labels (company logos, signs, borders, ect). Don't expect photo quality work since it is the same resolution as your normal brother label makers but it adds a new level of versatility to the process. It can be powered by battery or AC adapter and has an auto-cutter. The one thing that always bothered me about label printing was the 1/2in printing margin on either side that you had to trim down by hand, this machine does away with that and will print and cut right to you text. This unit retails for $89 and its little brother (no pun intended) runs in at $69 and removes the auto-cutter and AC adapter.

First Post From The Ground In Vegas!!!

I managed to make it all the way to arid Las Vegas Nevada to get a glimpse of the ever changing consumer electronics landscape at CES 2009! The flight was uneventful and I managed to snag an aisle seat with an empty middle next to me. I had an interesting conversation with my seat mate who was on his way back from Cuba and highly recommended a visit, maybe one day I will be able to travel there on my US passport...

I will be posting to the blog from my Blackberry and I will try to include photos when possible. If I think its cool I will try and get it up here!


That said, not much to report yet but I will get back to you all as soon as I manage to get my bag checked at the hotel and pickup my badge holder!!

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