Gadgets posts

There is little doubt that technology has changed things completely for western society in the last two decades. Computers are smaller and much faster. Games are graphically enhanced to resemble reality. Just about anything we would want to know that used to require a trip to the library can be found on Google or Wikipedia. The internet might be the most profound technological advancement in the last 20 years, but cell phones in general and smart phones in particular have made the transition to a digitally-driven world much more pronounced. Do you remember what it was like when you got your first…

J.D. Power and Associates is reporting in their U.S. 2011 Wireless Network Quality Performance Study that performance levels for networks differ greatly depending on whether devices are used for voice, text, or data. Voice calls are the most challenging for wireless customers, followed by data. For data, slow downloads are the biggest complaint over connection failures or email problems. The same type of complaints are associated with calls, as audio quality has eclipsed dropped calls as the top concern. “Based on the varying degree of consistency with overall network performance, it’s…

If the statistic is true (and there’s no reason to believe otherwise – heck, it’s on the internet!), then there was an average of 30 million daily tweets between June 13th and July 13th this year that mentioned the Copa America Tournament in soccer (football). Stat. Blows. Mind. According to the same study, there were 7,196 tweets per second during the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final. Apparently, only a few came from Barack Obama. More amazing statistics: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona acquired 6.6 million “likes” on his Facebook page… in one hour. A stadium in Kansas City can handle 18,000 WiFi…

Whether it’s a reality or simply another example of the fast-turning iPhone 5 rumor mill, it’s news either way: Sprint will be getting the iPhone 5 in October according to WSJ. The nations’ third-largest wireless service provider would be the third to receive the iPhone after Apple launched with AT&T in 2007 and brought in Verizon this year. It may also be enough to save the company from being crushed under the weight of Verizon and an AT&T/T-Mobile merger. This poses a new question for current and future iPhone fans with AT&T and Verizon going to tiered pricing. If Sprint holds true…

The vultures are circling the failed webOS-powered hardware victims, particularly the developers who have been making their money around building apps on the platform. Brandon Watson, the man responsible for apps and developers for Windows Phones, sent out a tweet on Friday to attract a response. The response has been huge. Currently, nearly 1000 webOS developers have attempted to take him up on his offer. To qualify, developers must have at least one application published on the webOS App Catalog. With Android and iOS exploding with apps and being hit up by tens of thousands of developers…

Those who frequent Starbucks have had a quad shot drink before. This is not one of those. Instead, it’s a remote control aircraft that combines the functionality of a helicopter and an airplane. The small company has raised over $37,000 so far, well above its goal of $25,000, and will be funded on September 17th. What makes it special beyond the functionality is the way it was designed. Using open-source hardware and software, they created a unique airframe design that combines the best of both types of flight. By creating a “brain” called Lisa/M that is the size of 3 quarters, they were able to equip…

With a growing number of people buying tablets every day, the clear progression is for the devices to start taking over the business world. On the enterprise level, tablets are not only starting to make a splash – they’re taking over. They are often viewed as something brand new, starting with the iPad, but Microsoft has been selling them in business for over a decade. The recent influx isn’t as much about internal technology as much as an improvement in internet infrastructure (3G and 4G are covering most of America now) as well as popular demand. Apple put the devices on the map and everyone else…

As Google and Apple continue to grow in the mobile market, Android and iOS are quickly becoming the predominant operating systems for phones and tablets. There are many statistics to look at and comparisons to be made. Here, we present a visualization tackling the debate. Thanks to our friends at Hunch, we now know that Android users are 10% more likely to be men. We know that iOS users are 50% more likely to have been on the internet before 1992. We know who is more likely to prefer General Tso’s Chicken over Pad Thai. It may not be the most important demographic data, but it’s definitely interesting….

Philips has just introduced the Sonicare DiamondClean USB, a toothbrush that can help you stay fresh and clean while you’re at your desk. The new electric toothbrush uses a USB port to keep its batteries charged, which is why the consumer electronics company has dubbed it “the iPod of toothbrushes.” Aside from USB connectivity, the device boasts five brushing modes and a “charge glass” for wireless charging. It’s slim design also makes it relatively easy to throw in a suitcase while traveling. Philips has also introduced a flossing device that doesn’t use floss at all. Sonicare AirFloss…

The dream of making the perfect robot that can do a lot of our human activities may have found a simple solution in Swarmanoid, an open scientific project whose goal is  the design, implementation and control of a novel distributed robotic system. Rather than build robots that can do many things, they build many robots that can do one thing and have them work together to accomplish their objectives. The video below has the robots working together to retrieve a single book. It may sound simple, but when was the last time you saw a robot that could retrieve a book? That’s what I thought. …