We all like to know what the weather holds in store for us so as to plan how we go about the day. So there is no surprise there are many ways of checking the weather forecast. However, a company has gone beyond the box to bring the rendering of tomorrow’s weather in your living space.
Meet the Tempescope!
The dedicated website claims “The tempescope is an ambient physical display that visualizes various weather conditions like rain, clouds, and lightning. By receiving weather forecasts from the internet, it can reproduce tomorrow’s sky in your living room.”
While many people might not buy into the idea of spending extra money just to get a box that tells you the weather forecast by representing it with some few tricks, we at The Computer Potato think this idea is cute and is true to bring life to any living space!
We humans are mostly dependent on machines to do a lot for us nowadays. Machines have been building most of the things we use and we are only just starting to use them more efficiently as technology advances everyday.
Not too long ago did 3d Printing wriggle its way into our commercial lives. Now many companies have been working on printing everything. Up till now we have heard of printed cakes, printed guns, printed cars, printed live human tissue!
Again another step is to be achieved, like it always is with technology! Companies now want to make buildings by printing them! Yes, you read that right. Buildings are being printed and assembled together.
A Dutch company is attempting to build a bridge completely printed. Please see picture below of a model.
Another building in Dubai is to be entirely assembled from printed parts, even down to the furniture that will be resting inside of it. Picture of the model is below
We at Computer Potato can’t wait to see what else this intricately efficient technology advancement will dab into next!
You might want to start packing the sewing machine back in its box. A group of inventors have invented a way of printing your clothes! No we don’t mean you printing letters on your clothes! We mean actually printing the fabric in the shape and design you choose.
The inventors of Electroloom believe they can make this ready by the end of2015 and already are looking for funding.
See for yourself below!
This is another invention we at theComputerPotato think will shape the future so we give kudos to the inventors working hard to make this a reality!
We at Computer Potato would like to introduce you to the next stage of technological advancement in computing and mobile devices which if put together into one device will change the way we interact with our environment using the electronic devices of the future.
Throughout this article, we will use the word devices to cover anything from mobile devices, to computers (desktop/laptop), to any smart electronic devices found in cars, homes, and anything considered smart today!
Let’s start with the tech giant Intel’s RealSense. Like the name suggests this technology will allow devices to map and represent a real sense of what is actually around them. This means devices can electronically simulate the world around them in real dimensions, leaving your whole body and everything around you interactive with you and with your devices. See the video below.
You can see more and read more about it here. Realsense has already started trickling out commercially in some devices.
Another tech giant Google recently announced many projects they are working on. Some have caught our eye and had to be added to this article
Project Soli essentially does some of the things the Intel RealSense does by allowing you to interact with devices using your body and gestures but even down to minute movements and motions. See below
Project Jacquard on the other hand does let you interact with devices in a “fabricated” way (pun intended). This technology is weaved into the fabric of your clothes, and in essence gives you the power to control your devices by gestures on your clothes. Yeah you read that right!
Lenovo also announced their concept phone with a projector built in. Yes not only is this innovative enough, they made the projected image smart enough to read your input. With this you can get a projected keyboard that you can actually type on. This might mean physical keyboards or touchscreens might actually become extinct. See below
So we have talked about inputting, interaction and controlling devices. How would we then feel or see our controls or how will the devices themselves interact with us?
Not to worry, with many many virtual reality goggles coming out already, we don’t have to crack our brains. Virtual reality as the name implies, is when an electronic device represents reality electronically and animates the simulation of the environment.
One of these goggles is made by another technology giant, Microsoft. The Hololens is a virtual reality goggle like no other announced yet! See below
Now putting all these newer technologies together into the already smart and helpful devices we have today and what do you get? A more immersive experience and interaction with devices on every level much like you see in a scene from Iron Man in the video below.
The best of this is, these technologies are past the research stage and have started appearing on some devices. We at the Computer Potato give kudos to all these companies and their researchers working hard to advance the future, take our money, and make our lives a bit more fun!
If you thought this was an X rated post, you are out of luck! Nikola Labs have created a case for the iPhone 6 that can charge your phone by converting your phone’s emitted radio waves to electrical current.
Nikola Labs RF to DC Converter Case
Radio waves are everywhere nowadays, from your home WiFi signal, to your mobile phone network, and of course your old FM radios all use the same technology. This means the potential for this device is vast, as there is no end to how much radio waves are around us at every point in seconds and all of it can be harvested and converted into electrical power.
We at The Computer Potato wish the new start up company all the funding needed and more brain juice to be able to make this technology an everyday use for everyone, all phones and mobile devices.
Not many decades ago, computers that were as powerful as the device you are using to read this article was so big it filled a medium sized room. As the world begins to get smaller politically and monetarily, we are seeing a massive shrink in digital devices too.
Everything electronics have been becoming more powerful and with so much more features in smaller casings. Now fully capable computers are starting to treacle out in the form no bigger than a USB stick. Yes a USB stick! We at Computer Potato call them compusticks.
Many companies and tech giants are working together and researching into more powerful computers that come in small packages.
We at The Computer Potato think this innovation is inevitable and will be very useful when they finally pick up. Imagine you are going for a business or friendly meeting and you don’t have to carry that big laptop bag anymore. All you need carry is your USB sized PC and a monitor and keyboard when you get to your meeting.
We think computers will only get smaller and maybe one day a supercomputer today could fit into a USB stick. We sure can’t wait!
We have all seen the scenes in movies where everything in our daily lives are automated by voice control robots or light emitting computers. We spoke about the Internet of Things a few weeks ago and even recently we have seen companies already setting up the platforms to make this a reality.
Commercial companies are already taking advantage of our love for the future of technology, the ease it promises, and are using this to attract us into buying more. The Amazon Dash and Dash Button are certainly going to ease even more shopping online.
You simply tell the Dash what you want to buy or scan the pack of the product you want, then go to your Amazon account, review the list you created, schedule delivery, place order and viola!
With the Dash button, it goes a step easier. According to Amazon’s website, you “use the Amazon app on your smartphone to easily connect to your home Wi-Fi network and select the product you want to reorder with Dash Button. Once connected, a single press automatically places your order. Amazon sends an order alert to your phone, so it’s easy to cancel if you change your mind. Unless you elect otherwise, Dash Button responds only to your first press until your order is delivered. ”
We at the computerpotato think the Amazon Dash and Dash button or technology like this will be the future of shopping and many more companies and ideas will spring from this dew!
You know those times when you pick up your phone and you realise you have it upside down? There is a phone from the tech giant Alcatel that will help you solve that. You would remember Alcatel from the glory days of “normal” mobile phones. Even then, they have not ceased to be pioneers in anything mobile or technology.
Meet the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3! With this smart phone, you can pick your calls with the phone upside down, yes, upside down! No the guy in the picture is not crazy!
Another idea that will make life easier for the phone enthusiasts that we at Computer Potato think may sound useless but prove useful in many mobile devices! Okay that is not the only feature of the phone, it is like most smartphones and the insides is as good. See below
Meet the Yotaphone. A phone designed to meet both your reading and smart phone needs at both ends.
Yotaphone has a normal smartphone screen you see in many new phones in front of it and an e-ink screen at the back, the kind you see in mobile devices designed just for reading.
You can use the screen at the back for both reading your favourite book and viewing your notifications without unlocking your phone. You could even personalise the back screen to show your favourite picture all the time, so you basically have your own digital case. Yes the back screen is always on.
You must be thinking battery matters now. Well the e-ink screen doesn’t use the phone’s fairly large battery as much as the normal screen giving your 5 days of using the back screen alone. The phone even lets you use the back screen for all functions which means you could use your phone for 5 days without need for a charge.
Is this useful in anyway I hear you say, here at Computer Potato we believe this is one innovation that has got a place in the current market and beyond. With time we will see this design used in many mobile devices giving you more functions. So we say kudos to the brains at Yota for their idea! See it yourself below.
The Consumer Electronics Show 2015 saw almost all big automobile manufacturers showcase their latest innovations and ideas for our future driving. Like you would have guessed from the title of this article, most of the cars have systems that are considered smart.
Now, what can they do? They have a lot of features like, calls and text integration, voice commands, parking assist, self driving, and of course infotainment. By now you must have also guessed the hub for all these features is your phone. Many companies are vying to make the standard operating system in these smart cars including Google and Apple, the latter whom has been whispered to be looking into the arena of smart cars too.
As this is only the beginning of officially smart vehicles, don’t throw away your hard earned driving license yet. Self driving cars are not yet feasible for the next few years as their are safety and legal laws and principles that need to be looked into. However, other helpful features like the internet connected car system that can give you up to date traffic information and of course real-time news are already out for grabs in the newest cars.
See below for more!
MyFord Touch
MyFord Touch redesigns the in-car interface, mirroring how consumers interact with most devices in their lives using touch-sensitive buttons, touch screens, thumb-wheel controls and voice recognition.
BMW Self Parking Car
BMW showed us a research vehicle whose Remote Valet Parking Assistant will help park your car
The Mercedes-Benz F 015 Luxury in Motion.-540x334
This is a driverless concept car from the car giant Mercedes
Hyundai Motors infotainment syste
Indulge in entertainment with this Hyundai infotainment system.
We at Computer Potato really do give kudos to these car companies and everyone looking into backing this good idea, as this could mean cars would be much safer when it kicks off and no more DUI worries for those nights when you just had a bit more to drink!
