Silly titles aside, the good guys over at Sumo Lounge shot us an email a few months back, asking if we’d be interested in reviewing their perfect-for-gamers Omni bean bag chair. Being a slave to comfort, and willing to experiment with new types of product reviews, we gave Sumo a big thumbs up. A few days later, our office became plus-one giant green blob of relaxation. It didn’t come with the hot blonde.
It’s almost 2012 and we still don’t have flying cars, but maybe Bridgestone’s new airless tire structure is one step closer to making our cars impervious to the ground. As will be showcased to the public from December 3 to 11 at the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show this year, these tires bear the load with recyclable thermoplastic resin spokes running from side to side rather than just radially from inner rim to outer tread.
We’ve been making do with pneumatic tires since the mid 1800s, but adoption of an airless tire may not be suddenly widespread for several reasons. The cost to manufacture such tires may be much higher, much less shipping weight, distribution and education costs. A full battery of tests across different terrains and environments is still progressing, and although such technology has been previously employed in military and space exploration, it may still be some time before approval is given for public use.
Tokyo University has reveled some thermal-based proprietary game accessories for some custom designed experiences, including a thermal controller, touch-screen, and a strange glowing seat. These devices are powered by Peltier elements, diodes that can divert heat to one side and leave the other cool. These proof-of-concept thermal games and gadgets provide an additional level of sensory input, which is related to on-screen context.
The first to be demoed in the video is Thermodraw, which is a custom screen and tablet device that allows the user to draw in a temperature-sensitive Microsoft Paint-esque program. On-screen colors match expected temperatures, with dark reds feeling hot and light blues feeling cold. The colors can be mix and matched in random patterns, overlap, and blend together with relevant heat and cold.
Soon to step up the power on mobile phones, Samsung has unveiled the Exynos 5250 System-on-Chip, which boasts dual cores and a 2 GHz clock speed. For comparison, Samsung’s latest smartphone, the Focus S, has been recorded at 1.4 GHz. It will also have a sizable boost to visual displays.
Sammy Hub reports that the chip will enhance graphical output that is “improved by four times compared to Cortex-A9-based Application Processors.” Note, that comparison would apply to the shiny new Apple A5 chip used in iPad 2s and newer models of the iPhone 4, which are also A9-based. The chip allows for stereoscopic 3D display and a resolution that goes all the way up to 2560×1600.
We won’t be seeing the chip being put into tablet devices quite yet, likely to be in production sometime late next year. Apple tablets excluded, as they tend to use proprietary chips. Then again, this chip may have a competitor by then, as Samsung is the typical manufacturer of aforementioned chips. Either way, the point is that next year we won’t have to worry about forgetting that great joke while we wait for our Twitter application to load.
Are you a distracted driver? If so, get off the road. Alternatively, Tobii has unveiled a technology specifically designed just for you! The company’s new system monitors for drowsiness and distraction by watching your eyes. By keeping track of your peepers, the device can detect exactly when you’re starting to nod off, or in the case of most drives, when you’re sexting your co-workers.
Unfortunately, the device is not hooked up to an electrode that zaps you every time you text me “lol” – but hey, there’s always the future!
On the bright side, the system doesn’t require calibration, so it’ll work on just about anyone who sits in the driver seat – even if they’re wearing glasses. Pretty neat stuff. With the technology, Tobii hopes to create better safety systems, not to mention eye-control infotainment systems.
Pretty neat stuff. Now get your eyes back on the damn road!
The processor war is over. In an interview with the San Jose Mercury News, Mike Silverman, a spokesman for AMD, announced that the company would no longer be focusing on competing with Intel. The company is apparently shifting its focus to mobile devices and emerging markets. Not a big surprise, considering that AMD’s processor market share has dropped significantly in recent years – currently sitting at only 19 percent.
“We will all need to let go of the old ‘AMD versus Intel’ mind-set, because it won’t be about that anymore,” Silverman said. While there is some nostalgia in the rivalry between both companies, it’s pretty clear that AMD was constantly playing caboose to Intel, who managed to push forward $44 billion in sales last year. AMD, on the other hand, struggled to reach $5.5 billion.
Since gas prices have been steadily rising (along with everything else) over the past few years, electric cars have become popular. The Nissan Leaf is one such car and it has been doing incredibly well with sales. During the Summer, it was announced that they had sold over 10,000 cars worldwide. Since then, that number has doubled since the car’s December 2010 debut.
It has been estimated that 9,000 of the sales have come from the US and California in particular. Matching their expectations, Nissan hopes to sell at least 10,000 by the end of the year.
Primarily competing with the Chevrolet Volt, the Leaf has certainly made its mark in the electric car war. At the currently on-going Tokyo Auto Show, Nissan even showed off a high performance version of the Leaf done up by the company’s Nismo performance division.
[via: Autoblog]
It’s that time of year for all of humanity to suffer the brunt of unwarranted and awkward political opinions from relatives in unison. The holidays are a mixed big for most, combining the best food with the worst elements of sleeping on a couch and entertaining hyperactive cousins. Thankfully, we live in the digital age, and if you have a gripe, there’s likely an app that can fix it.
Beyond the jump, you’ll find a guide to making the trip back home go smoothly, the idle time between meals go quickly, and the troubling interactions with holiday shopping and family antics go painlessly.
This Thanksgiving, I’d like to acknowledge the pros and cons of some gadgets that have proven to be indispensable to me this past year.
While they might not be the newest gadgets, they’ve been incredible to me – and they’re worth sharing.
Welcome to the weekly tech roundup, your gateway to all of the biggest news in the world of technology. Did you miss a big story during the week? That’s okay! We’ve got you covered.
Just hit the break. We’ll get you caught up.
