The Geek Church

Scrolling through options on a menu or running applications on a screen with just a simple wave or gesture of your hands seems like something out of science fiction, doesn’t it? Beyond the world of movies, this technology isn’t completely possible right now. However, Toshiba is now very close to actually creating this technological breakthrough. Recently, they developed a gesture-control concept for interface screens.

They call this concept the AirSwing and they also built a working prototype with real gesture control capability. The prototype is a user interface that runs on 4% processing power of the 400MHz ARM 11 processor and gesture control is made possible through a regular webcam. When using this interface, a transparent image of you is put on the screen, which then displays a menu with options you can scroll through with hand gestures. Furthermore, you can also move your transparent self around on the screen and use it to manipulate accessible content simply by using gestures.

Toshiba worked with DigInfo.tv to develop their prototype for the AirSwing device. Currently, there is no information about a release date or cost for the consumer concerning this new innovation. Sources indicate that this user interface will only be available as a tool of advertising at this point. Nonetheless, the technology of gesture-controlled interface screens seems to be an imminent reality for the near future.

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Researchers and businesses continue to develop new concepts in lighter, more portable technology for the general consumer. Some examples include the smartphone, iPad and iPod, which tend to be less bulky than older cellphones, netbooks and mp3 players. Now Chinavasion presents their latest product as the smallest mobile phone in existence and it fits on your wrist.

They call their new mobile creation the Penthouse watch phone. It features quad band GSM support, two SIM card slots and Bluetooth capability. Although this watch phone does have a 1.5 touch screen display, it also has a key pad and a four-way directional controller surprisingly enough. Apparently, Chinavasion thought older control set options were necessary to include on their new phone as a backup to the touch screen.

Furthermore, the Penthouse watch phone isn’t a strong contender in the smartphone market since its multimedia options are quite limited. You can only capture pictures at 640×480 and the device’s memory is 506kb, requiring the use of a 1GB micro SD card, which is included. Video capability is also lacking with a maximum of 176×144 AVI files, having a 5fps frame rate. Sadly, this phone’s greatest selling point may be the fact that it was made to wear on your wrist as a smaller mobile set. If you’re interested, it’s available for $113.

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This past Sunday, President Obama made time in his busy schedule to serve as a key-note speaker at a graduation ceremony for Hampton University. Of course, he gave a speech to congratulate the college graduates on their accomplishment, encourage them about their potential and inspire them to embrace their future with passion and vision. However, his commencement address to the students took a very bizarre turn when he chose to identify certain game consoles and mobile tech products as detriments of our society.

In his speech, Obama specifically mentioned the X-Box, Playstation, iPod and iPad and described them as devices that devalue and weaken the power of information. According to the U.S. President, information is supposed to be a tool of empowerment for people in our society, especially the nation’s youth. Furthermore, his argument is that personal electronic devices of entertainment only turn knowledge into a distraction or diversion. Apparently, Obama believes that the impact of these game consoles and mobile tech products is a threat to the future of this generation’s youth, our country’s future and even our system of democracy. You might be interested to know that the President previously bashed the X-Box last year during a speech to the NAACP as well. In that speech, he argued that parents have to be involved in their children’s education and must remove the game console as a distraction.

Nonetheless, it is important to note that Obama also admitted his own lack of knowledge and experience with these devices since he has never used them. Personally, I find it amusing that the U.S. President is openly criticizing products of entertainment, communication and internet access even though he’s never tried them before. This argument in his speech about the devaluing of information in society seems to be a basic ploy to score public relation points with parents and graduating students who shun these devices. Politicians are certainly known for targeting popular products in our culture for open contempt to gain public favor during their speeches. Sadly, this commonly leads to poorly-conceived arguments and statements that only come back to hurt the reputation of these politicians after public and media reactions have fully set in. Indeed, this may also apply to Obama’s attack on game consoles and mobile tech products as well.

At least his recent statement didn’t include the Wii. Nintendo, you can still breathe easy for now but watch your back.

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When using portable devices like an iPod or a smartphone to listen to music or watch videos, the headphone is the common tool of choice for ensuring sound quality. Headphones can also be used with large, electronic appliances such as television sets, stereo systems and computers. However, a headphone’s effectiveness in providing great sound quality to the user is limited since most headsets come with only two speakers (one for each ear). Thus, your sound experience with listening to music and watching videos is only as good as the quality of the headset you’re using and some brands do give poorer performance than others. So, a Canadian company called Psyko Audio has developed their own unique headset to resolve the problems people tend to have with regular headphones.

Instead of creating a headset for regular performance in sound quality, Psyko Audio sought to take the sound experience with headphones up to another level entirely. The concept behind their specially designed headset is to provide the user with real surround sound quality from the headphones themselves. In their unique design, this company deliberately ignored the conventional practice of only making two speakers for the ears alone. Instead, they developed a headset called the 5.1 PC Gaming Headset System, which actually uses five speakers that are located on top and along the headband. Then the sound is carried through tubes leading into the ear-cups, which spread the sound out over the front and back of your ears. Furthermore, this process of surround sound is also strongly supported by subwoofers built into the ear-cups.

Psyko Audio presented the 5.1 PC Gaming Headset System at the Gaming Expo during CES this past January. I was actually there at the time and had the opportunity to try out their special headphones for myself. It truly is a surround sound experience wearing the headset. The sound itself fills your ears in the headset, cutting off noise from the outside world around you and giving you unhindered performance quality with whatever you’re listening to. This headset is amazing and quite ingenious in its design and execution. The 5.1 PC Gaming Headset also comes with a detachable mic for gaming online and the whole set is available for $300 at websites such as Newegg and Tiger Direct. With the development of such effective headphones, I wonder what other products Psyko Audio plans to release in the near future.

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In this age of mobile, wireless technology, we find ourselves regularly dependent on batteries to keep our personal, electronic devices working. The problem with batteries is that most brands mainly offer disposable batteries, which have to be replaced eventually and rechargeable batteries tend to be more expensive than regular ones. So, if what a special battery charger was developed that could even restore the charge for regular, non-rechargeable batteries. Well, an Australian company named Digital Works has come forward to turn this “what if” scenario into a reality.

They call this special battery charger the ReZap Battery Engineer. This device is designed to restore the charge for both rechargeable and regular batteries and the regular kind can be recharged up to ten times. It can also recharge four cells of varying sizes at the same time. The ReZap Battery Engineer works by utilizing intelligent microprocessors and software to regulate the charging process for batteries and it is also designed to be environmentally safe for use. The device has a battery tester, which indicates the current charge level of any battery as well. Battery types such as AA, AAA, AAAA, C, D and 9 Volt are all compatible with the ReZap. This charger is quite unique since it is designed to to use the correct charging algorithm to handle the custom recharge of each individual battery type. Furthermore, the ReZap doesn’t require any settings to be made for buttons or switches, thus solving the problem of charging errors.

PC Treasures, a leading provider of award-winning OEM software bundles for computers has partnered with Digital Works to distribute the ReZap Battery Engineer on the North American market. PC Treasures has been active since 1998 and is based in Oxford, Michigan, working with computer system builders and resellers throughout North America. This provider is now focused on offering digital entertainment products, PC and netbook accessory items to general consumers as well. They have collaborated with Digital Works for a May 2010 release of the ReZap to North American stores and the suggested retail price is currently $59.95.

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Of course, the practice of using dogs for search and rescue is nothing new. They’re still used in law enforcement, fire departments and other organizations dedicated to protecting the safety of human life. Now, it seems that even man’s best friend is not immune to the involvement of technology to make them more effective at their job.

A student named Laura Boffi from Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design and some of her colleagues have developed a special collar for dogs who are used in search and rescue. The collar is a piece of technology that allows dogs to tag the location of survivors in a life-threatening situation and send back messages from the survivors to family, friends and other people of interest. According to Boffi, survivors feel fear and displacement in the first hours of being in-danger and their desire is to notify the people close to them about their safety and present status. The dogs used to test the high-tech collar have been called “messenger dogs” and they wear a special uniform that is equipped with a recording device to take messages and also collect data about geolocation and the time in which the message was recorded.

To simplify use of this device, the selected dogs only need to be trained to sit in front of the people they’re supposed to find. Then a accelerometer located in the collar is used to activate the device, causing it to read when the dog is sitting and a located survivor is free to record a video or type out a message in text. This concept of the messenger dog could definitely see practical application and success in the future as long as the training of the dog and the technology itself are proven to be effective.

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With the iPad and iPhone O S 4.0 recently announced by Apple, Microsoft is now poised to present their latest developments to stay competitive in the ever-changing market of mobile technology for communication and internet access. These products by Microsoft come in the form of two handsets called the Kin One and the Kin Two and they are being marketed as Windows phones. Here’s a rundown of these brand new handsets.

The Kin One and Kin Two are based on the Windows Phone 7 but they have some unique differences. The Kin series has its own custom-made user interface which is very focused on social media and also has a custom browser. The screen displays are multi-touch capable and you can even pinch and zoom with the browser. However, there is no support for third party applications, in-browser Flash or Silverlight.

The Kin One is also known as the “Turtle”. It’s a curved square sliding phone equipped with a QVGA display, 4GB of internal storage, a five megapixel camera with LED and a full QWERTY keyboard. Meanwhile, Kin Two is nicknamed “Pure”. It’s a more conventional QWERTY sliding phone with a HVGA display, an eight megapixel camera and 8GB of internal storage. Beyond that, it’s the same as the Kin One.

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I have seen video goggles like this Vuzix Wrap 310 before, and I’m really am not certain at what point video goggles will peak in the marketplace.

The Wrap 310 is a 16:9 wearable widescreen display, and it is made for viewing video files on the road. You can attach your iPod to it, and it will sync with any video file on the iPod that you want to select. It can also connect to other mobile devices, and it can also sync with a DVD player or anything with RCA connectors. I was actually able to view 3D footage as well.

You can see my full review here.

I’ve had some interesting experience with 3M’s Pocket Projector line before, such as the MPro120. It was a projector that I tried out and liked my experience, and I was pleased to try out the MPro150.

The MPro150 is able to project whatever is on a cell phone, Portable Media Player (PMP), television, computer, or any other device that it is compatible with. What makes the MPro150 different from the MPro120 is that the user can use the MPro150 as a stand-alone device. It has a mircoSD card reader so you can view PowerPoint, Word, and Excel presentation as well as other formats.

If you would like to see my full specs and read my full review, click here.