Jash’s Blog

Microsoft just released a conceptual video of their vision of the future. The concepts are just brilliant! The main devices are transparent cards which turn into a smartphone. This does seem technologically impossible today as we cannot imagine having a phone that is transparent and just a few millimeters thick, because we believe that the device has a processor, memory, batter, camera and other internal architecture. In the video, all this is abstracted out, there is nothing between the user and the content.

There are other creative ideas as well. These can be incorporated with today’s technology. For example, the person in Hong Kong sees a video that asks for help and as he raises his phone to the screen, he sees donation amounts on the device. He then selects and amount and the payment is done. Apps for today’s smartphones can be made to capture images and quickly match it up with a database of donations. Though this would need a massive database and extremely fast image processing, it is still possible to have this technology.

That being said, watch the video for yourself. Its after the break.

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We all have seen science fiction movies with those cool gadgets that we crave. Movies right from Back to the Future to The Island show us what the future might look like. They have the flying cars, skyscrapers different from what we have today and the awesome gadgets. Technology is surely heading that way from what we have seen in the last decade. A couple of years ago, we were new to texting and as we got used to it, we got social networking which led to a whole new way to communicating and interacting. We can now see friends around our geographical location on our mobile phones and see what they are doing, and share pictures and videos with them. We can hold our phones to the radio and find out what song is playing. We can also scan barcodes of items and find best deals for the product. It’s just amazing how technology has evolved in the past decade.

Mozilla Labs has a new concept for a mobile phone. Its called the Mozilla Seabird. There have been dozens of smartphone concepts for mobile phones, but this one is a true revolution. The Seabird has a unique design, its flat from the front and curved on the back. There is a bluetooth dongle that pops out of the back that can be used as a ear piece. You can also hover it in the air to interact with the phone. Getting it closer to you will zoom in and moving it away from out would zoom out. Another great thing is that it has two projectors build in. One projects a full OS on the wall and the other projects a virtual keyboard and touch pad on the desk. That’s right. It turns into your computer!

Anyway, its better to see the concept rather than reading it. Videos and pictures after the break.

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Boxee is a great multimedia platform that provides music, movies, torrent downloads to online streaming, right from its nice little interface. Furthermore, you can even add friends to Boxee and send and receive recommendations. However, Boxee can only be used with your computer (Mac and Linux - Windows in Private Alpha) or with an Apple TV. Its a great option if you have a Mac mini or an Apple TV. But what about the others ?

Boxee has got a solution. Set-top-box providers can sell their box with Boxee pre-installed. In fact, Boxee has got several inquiries recently. But wouldn’t it be even better if you could get a Boxee set-top-box itself?  Well, Boxee is thinking about it and needs your suggestions. Just head to the Boxee blog and let them know what you want.

Back in CES 2009, ASUS had unveiled a new Eee keyboard with a touch panel in the place of the numeric pad, which allows users to browse through media, organizer, calendar and other information. Here’s a picture:

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