Wednesday, April 18, 2012

New iPad Keyboard Cover

Image Source: gizmodo.com

Let's face it, since their inception, iPads have been designed to be more of a consumption device rather than an input device. Yes they are great for many tasks, but sometimes a physical keyboard would just makes things so much easier. With help from this new Logitech device, those of us who own the iPad2 or iPad3 can change all that.


Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Gesture control for the Mac

Image Source: zdnet.com

Most of us are familiar with Microsoft's great invention of the Kinect that allows users to use their body motions to control video games. Based on similar concepts, Mac users will now have a chance to use an application known as Flutter to help them control iTunes and Spotify.

Flutter utilizes the built-in webcam of the Macs to help them register hand gestures from up to 6 feet away. It allows music and videos in iTunes and music in Spotify to be played and paused by flashing the webcam a stop type hand gesture. 

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Honey, have you seen my ... ?

Image source: gizmag.com
DAMN IT (or insert your own expletive) ! I knew I should have gotten ready earlier. Okay Steve, now think, real hard... Where is the last place you remember having your keys? Keep calm, take a deep breath, and don't panic.
In the car? ... Not there!
On the table? ... Not there either!
In my pocket? ... Wrong again Steve-O, you already checked there... 5 times.
I know I better make this quick; my son needs to be at basketball practice by 4:30 or he can't play in this weekend's tournament. My wife will be mad at me (to say the least) and the grandparents are making a special trip just see him. Agggrrr ... where are they?!

Sound familiar? U Grok It is a device that pairs with your existing smart phone. It's aim is to relieve the common frustration which inevitably happens at the worst time. Using the device is as easy as 1,2,3. Simply tag your most likely to go missing items with a label, associate the label with the app,  and plug your phone into the base unit (the Grokker). You will now be able to track those elusive items with audio and visual cues.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

No Projector ... No Problem


Image Source: pcmag.com
With so many smartphone choices, which one do you choose? This is the question that many of us face when in the market for a new phone. Samsung has added a feature to help make that decision easier. 

In late February, Samsung announced they would be introducing their re-engineered Android powered smartphone, the Galaxy Beam. What makes this phone so different? A newly improved design with and an integrated projector.

Although projectors in phones are not entirely new to the phone market, the Galaxy Beam is significantly thinner (12.5mm) and has higher projection brightness (15 lumens) when compared to its competitors. Other specifications include a dual core 1GHz processor (U8500 chipset), a 4" WVGA LCD screen, WiFi, 8GB of storage (with additional memory slot), 3 hours of video playback, and a projection resolution of 640x360.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

"Just Google It?"

Image source: Wikipedia.org
How many times have you heard that statement or had the phrase go through your head? If you are like most, the answer is a lot .

It seems as though Google has become the search engine of the masses. While it is true that there are alternatives available, Google has become the go-to in our society. One company is out to change the way that search engines work and hopefully mix things up.

Enter YossarianLives!, a metaphorical search engine that thinks of un-thought-of connections to a particular subject. This is a great concept for people who are looking for new ideas. Instead of taking a direct hit approach like most search engines, it looks for parallel concepts that relate to a certain subject. The best example I saw used was a search on the term "emergency department". While Google would retrieve articles from Wikipedia or find data directly related to emergency rooms, YossarianLives! may find something like information on a Formula 1 pit crew. If you think about it, they too are a sort of emergency department. Brilliant!