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The Nokia N8 introduces a 12 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and Xenon flash, HD-quality video recording, film editing software and Dolby surround sound. All in a beautiful, aluminium design.
Could Claytronics make the simple act of preparing a meal as interactive and engaging as a video game? Michaël Harboun explores the future of everyday objects with the Living Kitchen Project.
Claytronics is a technology concept that relies on nano-sized computers that can join together to form interactive 3D objects. Imagine walking up to a blank wall, tracing a rectangle, and having the microscopic computers making up the surface rearrange themselves into a functional TV monitor.
Living Kitchen Project Image
Michaël Harboun, a design student at Strate Collège, created the Living Kitchen Project to help envision a world where everyday objects have been replaced with that technology. Where the objects we clutter our kitchens with are reduced to simple surfaces manipulated via hand gestures.
Michaël Harboun - Living Kitchen Project Video
"Now let's imagine a world where physical objects would gain digital abilities, meaning you could change the shape of any object as you would change the contents of your smartphone," Harboun says. "This would revolutionize our relationship with objects. An object would no longer induce a function by the way it looks. The user himself would define the functions of an object, the user becomes creator."
While such technology seems distant and alien, extreme research into the field is currently being conducted at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While the Living Kitchen is still a long ways off, the foundation is being built.
Being a design student, Harboun finished his presentation with a statement about how the role of the designer would change once all of that kitchen clutter becomes obsolete.
"The designer would still keep his position as a guarantor of quality. He would create sophisticated shapes in order to propose the best usages possible for his customer's needs. But he would also play an important role in the way the user interacts with the object. Designing the matter's behavior will perhaps be a new challenge for tomorrow's designers."
You've heard about it for months, and now the universal remote that looks nothing like a universal remote is finally on sale in 52 nations. Thinkflood's RedEye Mini -- which simply plugs into the headphone jack of your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch -- can now be procured for $49, and when used with the gratis app in the App Store, can control anything in your home entertainment setup that accepts IR commands. ZDNet was fortunate enough to get a little hands-on time with the device, and their early impressions are quite positive. In fact, they recommend skipping the Harmony hoopla and heading right for this if you're already an iDevice owner (who doesn't use an imposing case or Bumper), and at a buck under a Grant, we certainly aren't in a position to argue. See More Pictures Below
Zune Pass launched in the US alongside the Zune MP3 players and offered an alternative to the more common ‘pay-per-download’ services like iTunes. For a flat monthly fee, users get to download unlimited amounts of music from the entire Zune back-catalogue. These songs are DRM-restricted, but can be used on up to three computers and three Zune devices. As long as the subscription remains paid-up and active, the music can be listened to an unlimited number of times. On top of this, each subscriber gets to choose 10 songs each month to keep as DRM-free MP3s for no extra fee.
However, the service was never launched in the UK. With the release of the Windows Phone 7 platform just around the corner, though, Microsoft is taking the opportunity to extend the reach of its media service. The mobile OS uses the Zune branding and interface for its media capabilities, so having the Zune Pass service to complement it makes sense.
The screen-grab points to £8.99 for a one-month subscription and £26.97 for three months (hardly a discount - Ed), as well as the option of a 14-day free trial of the service.
With tongue wedged firmly in cheek, Adobe has named its latest little bit of demo software FlashTime and given it a quick spin to whet our appetites. Built using the forthcoming Air 2.5, this peer-to-peer video chat client harnesses your smartphone's camera to get some direct visual communication going with your fellow Android lovers. Okay, so Android users already have other options for doing just this very thing, but the point being made here is that you can do just about anything with Flash, and since it's Flash it'll be easy to port around to other platforms. Skip past the break to see the demo, which has a multipeer chat session with a desktop Mac thrown in for good measure.
Amazon Germany just couldn't keep a secret. Microsoft's just announced that a shiny new Xbox 360 Arcade replacement -- with 4GB internal flash memory, a matte finish, and built-in 802.11n WiFi -- will be shipping August 3rd for $199.99. A stark difference in capacity to the current 250GB model, but at least it's cheaper. Looking ahead to November, the standalone Kinect, it's coming for it $149.99 with Kinect Adventures. Act surprised, Microsoft would really like you to. As for the pièce de résistance -- that'd be the 4GB console, Kinect sensor, and game - that's due out "this holiday" for $299.99. Press release after the break, pretty pictures just below.
A lot has been reported about the Kindle e-reader and this tidbit gives an insight into its increasing popularity. Amazon has noted a huge growth in sales of the Kindle e-reader each month in Q2 of the current year on a sequential month-over-month and a year-over-year basis. This exponential rise seems to have been noticed after the price of the device was reduced to $189 (approx. Rs. 8,950).
Amazon boasts of having sold 143 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books over the past three months. Over the past one month, the company claims to have sold about 180 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books snapped up. Amazon has also revealed that it has sold three times more Kindle books in the first half of this year as compared to the first half of 2009.
“We’ve reached a tipping point with the new price of Kindle-the growth rate of Kindle device unit sales has tripled since we lowered the price from $259 to $189,” affirmed Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO, Amazon. “In addition, even while our hardcover sales continue to grow, the Kindle format has now overtaken the hardcover format. Amazon.com customers now purchase more Kindle books than hardcover books astonishing when you consider that we’ve been selling hardcover books for 15 years, and Kindle books for 33 months.”
The 6” e-ink display of the Android based Kindle e-reader allows comfortable visibility even in brightly lit areas. The battery life of the device is cited to last for up to two weeks. Users can also avail of 3G wireless capabilities at no additional cost though books downloaded at the Kindle Store must be paid for. Packed into a sleek tablet-like form factor, the e-reader weighs approximately 10.2 ounces which makes for easy portability.
The U.S. Kindle stores offer users over 630,000 e-books that include latest releases as well as 106 of 110 New York Times best sellers. Readers can avail of more than 5,10,000 of these books at $9.99 (approx. Rs. 470) or less.
Could Claytronics make the simple act of preparing a meal as interactive and engaging as a video game? Michaël Harboun explores the future of everyday objects with the Living Kitchen Project.
You've heard about it for months, and now the universal remote that looks nothing like a universal remote is finally on sale in 52 nations. Thinkflood's RedEye Mini -- which simply plugs into the headphone jack of your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch -- can now be procured for $49, and when used with the gratis app in the App Store, can control anything in your home entertainment setup that accepts IR commands. ZDNet was fortunate enough to get a little hands-on time with the device, and their early impressions are quite positive. In fact, they recommend skipping the Harmony hoopla and heading right for this if you're already an iDevice owner (who doesn't use an imposing case or Bumper), and at a buck under a Grant, we certainly aren't in a position to argue. See More Pictures Below
Zune Pass launched in the US alongside the Zune MP3 players and offered an alternative to the more common ‘pay-per-download’ services like iTunes. For a flat monthly fee, users get to download unlimited amounts of music from the entire Zune back-catalogue. These songs are DRM-restricted, but can be used on up to three computers and three Zune devices. As long as the subscription remains paid-up and active, the music can be listened to an unlimited number of times. On top of this, each subscriber gets to choose 10 songs each month to keep as DRM-free MP3s for no extra fee.
With tongue wedged firmly in cheek, Adobe has named its latest little bit of demo software FlashTime and given it a quick spin to whet our appetites. Built using the forthcoming Air 2.5, this peer-to-peer video chat client harnesses your smartphone's camera to get some direct visual communication going with your fellow Android lovers. Okay, so Android users already have other options for doing just this very thing, but the point being made here is that you can do just about anything with Flash, and since it's Flash it'll be easy to port around to other platforms. Skip past the break to see the demo, which has a multipeer chat session with a desktop Mac thrown in for good measure.
Amazon Germany just couldn't keep a secret. Microsoft's just announced that a shiny new Xbox 360 Arcade replacement -- with 4GB internal flash memory, a matte finish, and built-in 802.11n WiFi -- will be shipping August 3rd for $199.99. A stark difference in capacity to the current 250GB model, but at least it's cheaper. Looking ahead to November, the standalone Kinect, it's coming for it $149.99 with Kinect Adventures. Act surprised, Microsoft would really like you to. As for the pièce de résistance -- that'd be the 4GB console, Kinect sensor, and game - that's due out "this holiday" for $299.99. Press release after the break, pretty pictures just below.
A lot has been reported about the Kindle e-reader and this tidbit gives an insight into its increasing popularity. Amazon has noted a huge growth in sales of the Kindle e-reader each month in Q2 of the current year on a sequential month-over-month and a year-over-year basis. This exponential rise seems to have been noticed after the price of the device was reduced to $189 (approx. Rs. 8,950).