Technology | Nicole DiGiose

Driverless car completes 3,400-mile road trip across the United States

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Nicole DiGiose

The car traveled from San Francisco to New York City, and only needed human intervention on a 50-mile stretch

Back in late March a driverless automobile made its cross-country trek of 3,400 miles, traveling through 15 different states, without an accident or roadway incident. And no, it wasn’t Tesla, Google, or General Motors, but British auto supplier, Delphi Automotive, who was behind the success of this vehicle’s journey.

Delphi’s self-driving car went from San Francisco to New York City, in automated mode for 99% of the nine-day quest, and didn’t hit another car, person, or get a ticket. Apparently the company has been quietly advancing driverless technology, because the blue 2014 Audi SQ5 only gave its wheel to its human driver on a 50-mile stretch of city streets, where there were unmarked lanes and heavy roadwork.

Image via fromthegrapevine.com.

“Along the way, the vehicle encountered complex driving situations such as traffic circles, construction zones, bridges, tunnels, aggressive drivers, and a variety of weather conditions,” Delphi said in a statement.

Packed with technology including four short-range radars, three vision-based cameras, six “lidars” (similar to radars), a localization system, intelligence software algorithms, and a full range of advanced drive assistance systems, the car was more than ready to hit the road. Read More

Play music and make calls with a wireless smart button

Posted on December 28, 2014 by Nicole DiGiose

Flic creates a shortcut to your favorite actions on your smartphone

Though it appears to be nothing more than a pleasant-looking button, Flic can actually be set to make your life simpler. Known as a smart button, it can do pretty much anything you want it to do (within reason) on a daily basis, such as snapping photos, playing music, and snoozing your alarm.

Flic comes in a variety of colors.

Because it can stick to various surfaces, including those outside, Flic can be a part of so many things. Once set up via the accompanying app, which works with both iOS and Android, each button can be set to execute three actions — one by clicking, another by double-clicking, and another by pressing and holding. The buttons connect to a user’s smartphone via Bluetooth Low-energy and have a range of up to 150 feet.

Smaller than a quarter, Flic is housed in a silicon mold and can withstand outdoor environments and dust. It also comes with a reusable double-sided adhesive, which can easily be cleaned if it gets dirty. Read More

My experience with the Samsung Gear S smartwatch

Posted on December 28, 2014 by Nicole DiGiose

A personal review

It’s been three weeks since I’ve gotten my hands on a Samsung Gear S smartwatch, and overall I’m pleased with it. I was honestly expecting it to be a high-tech smartphone accessory, since that seems to be what most smartwatches are, but there’s much more to it, which was impressive. First off, the Gear S has its own SIM-card slot, gets its own cell service and data, and comes with an additional battery pack. Pretty much, it’s a watch that’s also a phone.

What caught my attention right off the bat was the modern, attractive look to the Gear S. It has a big, bright, curved 2-inch 480 x 360-pixel AMOLED display, which leaves plenty of room for swiping and pinching on the screen. To top it off, the watch comes with customizable screen clock faces to express your own style, and a snap-on adjustable wristband for a comfortable fit.

As for receiving notifications, there weren’t any issues (and it was quite exciting the first few times I received a text or an email and saw it come up on my watch), as long as I had my Samsung phone nearby. Even though the Gear S is seen as an independent smartwatch, it needs to be paired with your Samsung smartphone for most of its features to work, and it requires a connected data plan to use it as a cellular device. Read More

Wearable tech makes your skin function like a tablet

Posted on December 28, 2014 by Nicole DiGiose

Ready or not, the future has arrived

Recently there have been many new additions to the wearable technology market, but the Cicret Bracelet really jumps out from the crowd. What’s so different about it, you ask? Well, it projects a touchscreen onto your arm.

Image via Cicret.

Though it’s probably likely that most people aren’t pushing and shoving to try this one out, the reasoning behind it is this: By having a touchscreen displayed on your arm, you can very easily access and work your apps without having to take out your phone. So far it seems to work similar to the way you’d view information on a tablet. Read More

Top smartphones of 2014

Posted on December 28, 2014 by Nicole DiGiose

Looking to buy a new phone this holiday season? Check out our list of some of the best smartphones you can purchase today.

Samsung Galaxy S5

With high dynamic range resulting in amazing picture quality, the Galaxy S5’s 16MP camera is its main feature. But of course, that’s not all this brilliant phone has to offer. Samsung has also improved the phone’s durability and usability from its S4 predecessor, with improved resistance to dust and water. Its awesome apps include fitness-tracking abilities, which have been enhanced since the Galaxy S4, along with a dedicated heart rate monitor. Its fingerprint scanner makes this phone one of the most secure Galaxy phones ever created. Although its silver edge and Elastoplast-style back won’t be of everyone’s taste, the market for its use with companion products such as the Gear smartwatch and Gear Fit fitness band are growing, though relatively small.

Dimensions: 142.0 x 72.5 x 8.1mm Screen: 5.5” Weight: 172g Storage: 1GB, Internal Memory: 16/64/128GBProcessor: Apple A8 Camera: Front-facing: 8MP Rear-facing: 1.2MP

iPhone 6

No doubt about it, the iPhone 6 has a very pleasing design, and along with its user-friendly simplicity, it’s one of the best phones to ever hit the market. It picks up where the 5s left off, with a larger 4.7-inch display, improved battery life, and a slimmer body than ever before (just don’t bend it!). Although no one feature stands out, as they’re all nothing short of astounding, Apple proved again that it can reinvent existing ideas into a whole new product.

Dimensions: 158.1 x 77.8 x 7.1 mm Screen: 5.1” Weight: 145g Storage: 2GB, Internal Memory: 16/32GB, microSD slot up to 128GB Processor: Qualcomm MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801 Camera: Front-facing: 2MP Rear-facing: 16MP
Read More

Control your home via verbal command with these voice-controlled products

Posted on December 28, 2014 by Nicole DiGiose

Voice control is coming to the forefront of the smart home

Vocca by ActiVocal

Vocca is much more than meets the eye. This simple-looking gadget is actually a lighting adapter that turns traditional bulbs into voice-activated ones. Stored inside is a microphone, an AC-to-DC converter, Bluetooth and memory, a natural language processor, and load relay. It doesn’t require Wi-Fi, set-up, or installation. Just by saying “Go Vocca light,” the device will be alerted that you’re ready to give a command, and from there, you can turn your lights on or off just by using your voice. With the compatible app, you can also schedule on/off times.

Echo by Amazon

Amazon recently announced that it’s building a speaker that can be controlled with your voice. Called Echo, it acts like a personal assistant that’s similar to Siri or Google Now — just crammed into a speaker. By using seven microphones equipped with sensors that use beamforming technology, it listens for user requests, and can even understand you while it’s pounding out 360-degree audio to fill the entire room. Designed to make your life a little bit easier, Echo, which responds to “Alexa,” can also tell you the weather and answer general questions with facts from Wikipedia.

HomeKit by Apple

Apple came flying into the smart-home sector with the idea of HomeKit, a framework in iOS 8 for communicating with and controlling connected accessories. Once available, and by using Siri, HomeKit will allow users to control locks, lights, cameras, doors, thermostats, plugs, and switches at home.

Homey by Anthom

Operating on a variety of protocols such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and Z-Wave Homey is a voice-activated automation hub that can communicate with a bunch of differently configured gadgets at once. This voice-controlled sphere is also multi-lingual — it understands English, Dutch, Spanish, and French, and is compatible with a variety of app-enabled smart home products.
Read More

Scientists have created the world’s smallest electric generator at just one atom thick

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Nicole DiGiose

A team of scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed the world’s smallest electric generator. At just one atom thick, the device is made from molybdenum disulphide (MoS₂), which is a clear, flexible material that opens up huge possibilities for the future of electricity generation.

The new electrical generator is an example of piezoelectricity, or electricity that’s generated from pressure. Piezoelectric materials have had almost an infinite amount of potential uses, especially in the nanotechnology field, but until now, scientists have struggled to make them flexible and thin enough to be practical.

Shown is a sample of the material that was tested as part of the research. Image: Rob Felt/Georgia Tech.

In order to test whether or not MoS₂ would be piezoelectric on the atomic scale, the team behind the technology flaked off thin layers of the MoS₂ onto a flexible substrate with electrical contact. Read More

Designers create new font from satellite imagery

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Nicole DiGiose

Aerial Bold is the first map and typeface of the Earth

After realizing their mutual enthusiasm for maps, or, more likely, bizarre patterns in our planet’s surface, data visualization designer Benedikt Gross and geographer Joey Lee collaborated on a project called Aerial Bold. The project, which was inspired by the many shapes of pools in Los Angeles, will be the first typeface created from shapes and patterns from Earth’s topology.

Since the duo spends so much time looking at satellite images, it was only a matter of time before they got creative with it. After realizing there are some letters in the images, as with any oddity, they began noticing them all of the time.

From there, the two decided to turn topography into typology, and were off to a strong start with their successful Kickstarter campaign. To “read” the planet for letterforms or alphabet shapes “written” into the topology of roads, buildings, rivers, trees, and lakes, Gross and Lee had to traverse Earth’s satellite imagery and develop the tools and methods needed to map these hidden features. In order to stick to their word, they had to create a bespoke automated process to detect letter forms from aerial imagery. Read More

Image(s) of the Day: What commercial aircraft will look like in 2050

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Nicole DiGiose

By 2050 the aircraft industry will be much different than it is today. The predicted seven-fold increase in air traffic will bring a four-fold increase in greenhouse gas emissions, unless significant changes are made. But how drastic will these changes need to be in order to prevent this issue and how will they affect today’s aircraft that cruise through the skies every day?

The airliner is about to be re-invented. Shown above is an aircraft with a blended wing body. Image via space.com.

The next big step towards ensuring a greener aircraft industry is the full electrification of commercial aircraft. That means zero CO₂ and NO_x emissions, with energy sourced from power stations that are sustainably fueled. In this case, the main technological barrier is to overcome the energy density of batteries, a measure of how much power can be generated from a battery of a certain weight. Read More

Part speaker and part personal assistant, Amazon Echo is music to your ears

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Nicole DiGiose

To everyone’s surprise, Amazon came out with a voice-controlled speaker that tells you what you want to hear

Seemingly out of nowhere, Amazon announced that it’s building a speaker that can be controlled with your voice. Called Echo, it acts like a personal assistant that’s similar to Siri or Google Now – just crammed into a speaker. By using seven microphones equipped with sensors that use beamforming technology, it listens for user requests, and can even understand you while it’s pounding out 360-degree audio to fill the entire room.

Standing 9 inches tall, Echo looks and serves just like any speaker would. But playing your favorite tunes from your cloud library isn’t the only thing it can do. Designed to make your life a little bit easier, Echo, which responds to “Alexa,” can tell you the weather and answer general questions with facts from Wikipedia. Read More