An article I wrote for Electronic Products.
A glimpse back at wacky technologies from way back when
Radio Hat
Created by an American inventor in the 1940s, the radio hat was a portable radio built into a pith helmet that could bring in stations within a 20-mile radius.
One wheel motorcycle
The one wheel motorcycle was invented by M. Goventosa de Udine. It had an impressive maximum speed of 93 mph. Read More
An article I wrote for Electronic Products.
With one tiny gadget, almost any car in America can connect to social network data
Automatic, a service that aims to help drivers save time and thousands of dollars in wasted gas by teaching better driving habits in real time linked up with IFTTT, a service that lets you create powerful connections with one simple statement. Together the team created a gadget called the Automatic Link, which allows almost any car manufactured since 1996 to connect to one of 82 social services including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SMS, and even your email account. The connection could be triggered when the ignition is started, a destination is reached, or when the check engine light comes on.
“Your car is the most expensive computer you’re ever going to buy, and it’s not even connected to the Internet,” Automatic Chief Product Officer Ljuba Miljkovic told Wired. “It could be so much more useful to you if it was connected.” Read More
An article I wrote for Electronic Products.
Study shows that Generation Y is pushing for driverless cars
A survey conducted by Accenture found that Millennials, also known as Gen Yers, are pushing for driverless car development. The survey covered 14,000 drivers in 12 countries, including the United States.
Google’s self-driving car, pictured above, has driven 300,000 miles.
While there is an ongoing debate about the safety of driverless cars, 90% of the survey respondents expressed interest in some autonomous driving options, which were primarily safety-related.
Since Millennials make up about a third of all U.S. drivers and are the rising generation of car buyers, they’re currently the top target for automakers looking for new customers. Read More
An article I wrote for Electronic Products.
A look at some of the technologies that will affect the way we live in the near future
While the 20th century was packed with technological breakthroughs and discoveries, the 21st century could go one, or many steps further. In the last decade we’ve seen iTunes turn the music industry upside down, and the social media revolution forever changed the way we communicate, along with the rise of the smartphone. Check out the list below to find out which technologies are expected to affect the way we live in the years to come.
The Internet of Things
Image via silabs.com.
If you think the Internet is all about your smartphone and staying connected with friends, you’ll be surprised to know that the Internet is increasingly becoming about objects communicating with other objects. Actuators and sensors are appearing on more devices so they can monitor surroundings, receive instructions, and share feedback. Currently there are over 9-billion devices connected to the Internet, and that number is expected to rise to a trillion in the next decade.
According to the director of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Carnegie Mellon University, Ed Schlesinger, traffic among devices will exceed the conversation among people and between people and devices. Read More
An article I wrote for Electronic Products.
thingCHARGER is a simple way to wirelessly charge all of your electronics
Whether it’s a smartphone, a tablet, or a reader, many of us rely on multiple electronics on a daily basis, and all of them require charging. Since each device comes with its own charger, having them plugged into the same outlet at the same time can become a tangled mess. But with thingCHARGER you can resolve that issue, as it wirelessly charges all of your electronic devices at once.
thingCHARGER powers up anything USB, including iPhones, Androids, Kindles, and tablets. You simply plug it into an empty outlet, place your device on top of one of the interchangeable tips (depending on what you’re charging), and you’ll be charged up in no time. Read More
An article I wrote for Electronic Products.
Liquid solution transforms all gloves into touchscreen gloves
If you own a touchscreen device and wear gloves, Nanotips is the best solution to poking your useless, bundled up finger on your screen. Formulated using nanotechnology, Nanotips is a conductive polyamide liquid solution that transforms ordinary gloves into touchscreen ones by mimicking the touch of human skin.
Not only does Nanotips upgrade any pair of old gloves, it can also be used to restore existing touchscreen gloves, which wear out over time. With enough liquid in each bottle to treat multiple gloves, you don’t have to be limited to the select few that have touchscreen compatibility. Depending on what you use your gloves for, each application of Nanotips can last from a couple of weeks to a few months, and when it wears off, all you have to do is simply re-apply. Read More
An article I wrote for Electronic Products.
80-inch HD displays show close to real-time video from the front and back of a cruise ship
Booked your cruise too late and missed out on a window suite? There’s no reason to be bummed out, because for latecomers who would like the waterside experience, Royal Caribbean is offering what they call “virtual balcony staterooms.”
Made of 80-inch floor-to-ceiling HD displays, the TVs show close to real-time video from the bow and stern of the ship, shot on RED Epic HD cinema cameras, complete with audio. In order to operate correctly in the sun, heat, salt and water, the cameras are marine compliant and weathertight. Fiber-optic cable carries the video to a server, then to a set-top box that decodes and processes the video before it’s displayed on the screen. Read More
An article I wrote for Electronic Products.
A look at some everyday electronics that are nearing extinction
Remember the days when you would patiently wait for the fax machine at the office to send over those important documents? Then you’d go home to pop your favorite VHS into the VCR? Though it may seem like it, that wasn’t too long ago, and now a fresh batch of electronics we use quite often are on their way to joining those devices in retirement. They just don’t want to believe it.
Computer mouse
Image via Microsoft.
The idea of not using a mouse to navigate your way through a computer was science fiction 10 years ago. Now, due to the use of tablets and smartphones, the mouse is on its way out. It’s predicted that in about five years, the cost of adding capacitive touch capability to screens will be so inexpensive that displays from large-screens TVs to laptops will have it, eliminating the need for an old fashioned computer mouse.
iPod
Image via dailytech.com.
The birth of the iPod completely destroyed the CD, and now it looks like the cherished music player may be next in line. In the past few years, the iPod has been seeing dramatic falls in its sales—now making up only 2% of Apple’s income. Most smartphones, including the company’s beloved iPhone, make perfectly good MP3 players, resulting in the iPod’s deadly decline. Read More
An article I wrote for Electronic Products.
Feeling powerless? It may not be such a bad thing after all
It’s always those times when you’re nowhere near an outlet when your smartphone or tablet uses its final breaths to flash a red light or slowly power down as it warns you of its nearing death. For the most part, electronics are nothing without power, right? Fortunately, that doesn’t always have to be the case. Check out the list of “powerless” tech gadgets below that can serve as useful devices while simultaneously charging your electronics.
SpareOne Plus emergency mobile phone
Image via realsimple.com.
Even if you’re without power for an extended period of time and all of your other electronics have failed you, the SpareOne Plus will be ready to assist. This phone contains a special battery-isolator tab that keeps its single AA battery from draining, allowing the phone to offer 10 hours of talk time without electricity. If unused, it can survive up to an impressive 15 years. Also included is a built-in LED flash light for 24 hours of continuous light, a panic siren, and an SOS torchlight on top that flashes Morse code. Though it looks like something fresh out of 1998, it’s a good idea to keep this handy phone nearby and stored in a safe place.
Price: $80
An article I wrote for Electronic Products.
meMINI is the world’s first wearable Wi-Fi camera with recall
Many special moments in our lives tend to happen without warning, and we’re usually wishing we had a camera to save those cherished memories forever. Enter meMINI, the world’s first wearable Wi-Fi-enabled camera with recall, which allows you to save meaningful occasions in high-definition video right after they happen. With meMINI you can preserve once in a lifetime memories and everyday moments such as wedding proposals, your child’s first words, or the joke your friend shared that had the whole room laughing.
Capture any special moment with meMINI. Image via memini.com.
Using meMINI
Because it’s small, light, and comes with magnetic back plates, meMINI can be worn on clothing, and looping footage is recorded every five seconds to five minutes. When you want to capture a specific moment, a press of the recall button on the device stores the most recent loop of video. On a full charge, meMINI can loop video for three continuous hours. The idea behind the camera is not only to preserve live action memories, but to cut down on editing when processing the video later on. Read More
Nicole DiGiose 