Tag Archives: New Technology

Student Invents GPS Rape Alarm

August 10, 2015 tp2000ng@yahoo.com Leave a comment

In these days of Tech! Everyone is busy inventing devices to make themselves richer under the guise of helping us do more every day! Now and again however, there comes a an idea born from a genuine need to help the people next door.

A student Rebecca Pick was so concerned when a woman in her apartment block was attacked that she brainstormed to come up with an ingeniuos idea.

The tiny GPS Rape Alarm called the Personal Guardian uses your phone to send a distressed signal with the exact location to the Police when activated.

Young-Scot-Rebecca-Pick-designs-state-of-the-art-rape-alarm-after-her-neighbour-was-attacked — The Personal Guardian Compared To Coins

The website claims “The Personal Guardian can be worn discreetly on a bra strap and concealed under clothes, on a trouser belt loop or clipped to a workers lanyard. When activated, the alarm will send the Police to the exact location of the incident. It will also send a text to pre-determined phone contacts (friends and family) alerting them and also providing the location. Simultaneously, when the alarm is activated, an internal microphone and the microphone on the user’s smart phone will record. This will record all dialogue which can then be used in court to get a conviction.

This alarm can not only stop an attack but also gather evidence to get a conviction”

We still have to wait a while before this becomes a commercial reality. However, we at The Computer Potato think this is another great invention and hope to see more of ideas that will actually make the world safer!

General Information

Cold Out To Twit? You Might Need These Gloves

December 20, 2014 tp2000ng@yahoo.com Leave a comment

Have you ever been outside where it is too cold to twit, and you really need to twit? Not to worry, a group of students in USA have made it easier for you. These students from Olin College are keen to get you twitting all you want with just your hands and your voice.

Meet the Hashtag Gloves. They work by you making the hashtag sign with your hands and speaking what you would like twitted! And the gloves twit what you say for you.

I’d be careful with this one, you don’t want to twit the wrong things you just said. However, Computer Potatoe gives kudos to the creators of another innovative ideas.

General Information

Your Phone Could Be Able to Charge In 1 Minute!

December 4, 2014 tp2000ng@yahoo.com Leave a comment

Yes you read the title correctly. A startup company StoreDot from Israel has developed a battery that can charge in approximately 26 minutes. Of course you will be sceptical to hear this as we are used to the hours of charging. To put away any doubt, this was demonstrated by charging a Samsung S4 in seconds.

As always Computer Potatoe brings you computer innovation news without the technical mumbo jumbo. We can tell you the batteries are very big much bigger than the normal smartphone batteries we have nowadays. Because they are bigger than than the normal batteries, they don’t last as long as the current batteries we have if they were in the same size. A bit of work is still needed here and because they are made from organic material, they are cheaper to make.

StoreDot Battery

I know what you are thinking, this will give us a lot more time for our 21st century busy schedule, but don’t be bringing out the champagne yet as these batteries are still under development. They are stated for commercial release sometime in 2016. We could also see more of researches like this like the one we posted weeks ago (click to read).

Still skeptical? See below

General Information

Meet Amazon Echo!

November 16, 2014 tp2000ng@yahoo.com Leave a comment

Siri, Cortana, Google Now beware, for there is a new guy in town.

Meet the Amazon Echo!

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been the subject of science fiction since its early days and with each second we are getting closer to something that can mimic AI. Thanks to the hard work and collection of internet information, we have been putting AI to use in systems such Siri, Cortana and Google Now.

Amazon Echo is another personal assistant like the ones we find on our smart phones. However, the Echo comes with a difference, it sits in a speaker and has its own phone App that gives you continuity if you are out of proximity of the Echo. Of course it is voice activated and can organise your diary, play music, tell you the weather and like the other PA systems answer your questions!

Amazon says “Echo has been fine-tuned to deliver crisp vocals with dynamic bass response. Its dual downward-firing speakers produce 360° omni-directional audio to fill the room with immersive sound. Echo provides hands-free voice control for Amazon Music, Prime Music, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn. Plus, Echo is Bluetooth-enabled so you can stream other popular music services like Spotify, iTunes, and Pandora from your phone or tablet.”

If you are ready to shell $199 on this, it will serve as a good speaker and personal assistant to have in the home. The only thing left to say is Alexa!

General Information

3D Printing Simplified!

August 2, 2014 tp2000ng@yahoo.com Leave a comment

Have you ever wondered what 3D printing is? The Computer Potatoe is here, as always to simplify this for you. If you are reading this, the chances are you have used a printer before or have had someone help you print your documents. You simply select the page you want printed and the printer does all the work of turning the document on the computer into ink on paper. Inside the printer, ink is sprayed layer by layer on the paper until all your text appears exactly as it is the computer be it coloured or black and white.

3D printing is exactly the same, only more detailed and it is not just on paper. 3D printing can use several materials including plastic and metals instead of just ink. It gradually binds layers and layers of granular material together from bottom to top until it has produced a full 3 dimensional object (hence the name). Even though it sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, this technology has been out for more than a decade but is just starting to gain commercialisation.

The benefits of this technology are many. Imagine you wanted a new spoon in the house and all you do is go to your computer and send a template to print to your 3D printer. In minutes you have a spoon that you can use to eat immediately. This goes for all objects you want to print. Simply pop the template on your computer and send it to print on the 3D printer, and you get it in minutes no matter how intricate the object design is.

As of now to get one of these printers still cost an arm and a leg and the materials even more but many technology companies are working hard on getting these into our homes for cheaper.

For your enjoyment, see this 3D printed real ice cream

General Information

Screens Will Bend!

July 14, 2014 tp2000ng@yahoo.com Leave a comment

Displays have certainly gone through changes within the years. From the black and white screens on your old “much-larger-than-it-should-be” TV, to the colour TV, to the handheld devices like your phone, then to clearer colourful screens on small devices, to High definition screens on your flatscreen TV and your phones, 3D screens, Quad High Definition. Now it is changing again and many big companies have been working hard to make sure they find the next thing first.

Well drum roll please, the next big thing is a screen that bends. Yes, a screen that you can bend without breaking it. In fact, LG has just announced an almost paper like screen that you can roll cylindrically without affecting its functions. They take pride in the fact the 18 inch screen can roll into a cylinder with a 6cm diameter (that would be the cylindrical size of your typical air freshener can). They are not the first though, as Samsung had announced they would be making bendable screens in 2013.

As The Computer Potato only brings you information in a simple way, there is not much to be said about this technology yet. All we know about them is still technical at this stage.

The Use; Well you might think there is little use for this, but there are quite a few. One of them is viewing angle. Generally screens are dim when light reflects on them, with the “bendy” screens you can easily bend it into view.

Conclusion; Even though this is a very good idea, we won’t be rolling our phones into a cylinder any time soon. Why? Even if the screen bends, the other components of the device cannot so they have to attach heavily on one side (not ideal for ergonomics), until we find a way to make everything bendable in the future.

General Information

Project Ara Will Change Everything!

July 11, 2014 tp2000ng@yahoo.com Leave a comment

Fancy making your own phone? Yeah, you read right, make your own phone. Not to worry you will not be buying your own factory to create the phone, rather you will be able to customise your own phone thanks to a project named Project Ara by Google. Project Ara is looking to provide a build-your-own smartphone with which users can mix and match features themselves. Users will get an empty phone frame with a screen, and can add or remove modular parts of the handset to make up the phone of your dreams. You don’t get it? Think of it as a Lego box and from the pieces you are making a fully functional phone.

History; Project Ara was started by Google subsidiary Motorola Mobility with the goal of offering a highly customizable smartphone based on open hardware. Motorola Mobility was later acquired by Lenovo, but Google retained the Project Ara effort, which is now part of the company’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) division.

Production; Google has said the snap-on modules (or Lego like bricks) will be mass-produced via 3D printing. 3D Systems is Google’s exclusive printing partner for Project Ara. 3D Systems has said Project Ara’s success could depend on the modular parts available, and the ability to mass produce those components in time.

How it will work; Ara phones are going to be built using modules inserted into metal endoskeletal frames known as “endos”. The endos will be the only component in an Ara phone made by Google. It acts as the switch to the on-device network linking all the modules together. You can then upgrade your phone by changing the modules connected to it and viola; you have a new powerful phone.

This is a great idea as you spend less to keep a new phone, you can decide to change the screen, or the processor, the battery or all of it without buying the whole phone. If it is ever commercial, it is the best idea ever! Gone will be the days of losing that phone case you are sentimental to because a newer model of your phone is out. You will be able to hold on to your “old-new” phone until it actually gives up or you decide to change it yourself, not forced to.

Information Technology News Made Simple!