Hardware posts

“Quite frankly, I feel like I’m in Minority Report and that’s really awesome,” said Ashley Esqueda from Mobile Nations. If there was any doubt that technology was reaching a tipping point where things from our imaginations were becoming a reality, the Samsung “Transparent Smart Window” technology may be enough to squash it. The touchscreen aperture designed for use in the kitchen and other rooms where we spend time in front of a window gives you Twitter, virtual blinds, weather reports, and likely many other things that people will find useful (in a novelty sort of fashion, of course). Take a…

Those of us at CES know have seen a million gadgets and gizmos in the last few hours. We’ve seen cool booths, inventive advertisements, and enough touchscreens to make our fingers bleed. There are many standouts at the show, one of which being the Samsung Galaxy Note. Is it a small tablet or a large smartphone? Yes. Samsung’s Senior VP Kevin Packingham described the vision behind the device. “With the Samsung Galaxy Note, we set out to create a device that enables people to do more while carrying less.” Visitors to the Samsung booth were greeted by several caricature artists who were doing clever…

I’ll never forget when my boss at the time showed me his shiny new Windows Phone. I liked the interface, the feel of the hardware itself, and the responsiveness of the internet even on the (dreaded) AT&T network. I nodded politely and congratulated him on his bold move away from the norm (something that he does often). I figured he’d have an iPhone or Android to replace it by the end of 2011. It wasn’t the technology. It was the apps. I didn’t believe at the time that Microsoft was being aggressive enough encouraging developers to fill their marketplace the way that Android had. iOS needed no encouragement…

The term “ancient” is relative and unfortunately I can remember using many of the machines in this video, but compared to what we have today, the various equipment used here are “older than the internet,” so to speak. It makes the end result, an equipment-generated variation of “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals, even more epic. According to creator bd594, “My last couple of videos I built a couple of robot bands (yeah! machines that play actual instruments). These videos didn’t fair as well so I decided to go back to the basics and create a video staring my trusty old HP Scanner and a scrappy old…

Colleges have always been a venue for the latest and greatest in technology to not only be used, but often created as well. Today’s and tomorrow’s college students are “ultra-connected” and many do not even know what life would be like without constant contact with the internet, their friends and family, or the devices that bridge the real world to the virtual existence that often lives in our pockets. This infographic explores the way that American students and the colleges they attend have integrated technology into education in ways that were unfathomable just a couple of decades ago. Click…

First and foremost, RIM is dying. Anyone with knowledge of their situation knows that they have already lost the war against Apple, Google, and even Microsoft when it comes to being a player in the mobile device industry even if they still have a substantial chunk of the market. Recent reports indicate that they were approached by Amazon and others to help them get back on track but passed on the offers. “They have had approaches from folks who have wanted to have discussions,” said one head of technology investment banking at a Wall Street bank. “The issue is it is hard to find a value that makes sense…

The trends of sales during the holidays often relies on the wants of children and teens. It isn’t just in their own gifts that we end up seeing the shift; adults will often follow the lead of their children when considering which gadgets to buy themselves and other adults. In 2011, the iPad continues to grow as a desired gadget. Despite the onslaught by Amazon with their Kindle Fire, which hopes to regain their “top Christmas gadget” status that they had in 2009 with its predecessor, kids are still seeing a brighter future for the device with the bigger screen, more apps, and 3G capabilities. On the…

The concept of business intelligence has been around for decades, but only in the last dozen or so years has it become an essential tool that businesses use to make major decisions about directions and strategies. The rise of the internet has made it the central focus of companies around the world whether they’re internet-based or not. As a result, BI’s important has continued to rise. Society is transitioning towards using mobile devices as primary tools for day-to-day life. Many of the purchases and other transactions occurring in the world are shifting towards promoting mobile interactions…

It’s been a long time since a concept car has really sparked the imagination of tech geeks and car enthusiasts alike. When Toyota unveiled their latest concept car, the Fun-Vii, at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show this week, everyone from Automobile Magazine to Mashable jumped in to discuss its proposed paradigm-shifting features. It’s clear what the “Fun” part of the name means just by watching the second video below. The “Vii” stands for Vehicle, Interactive, Internet. Inside and out, most aspects of the car can interact with the internet and be controlled by a smartphone. Most surfaces on and within…

The future of the internet and computing might be in the cloud, but people are reluctant to give up their hard drives and programs. This has been made clear by the assumed poor performance of the Chromebook line of laptops over the last six months. The most recent price reductions of Acer and Samsung Chromebooks to a base of $299 just prior to Christmas is enough circumstantial evidence to show that we’re just not ready to dish out big bucks for cloud-based computers. Like it or not, we use Microsoft Word. We feel safer storing our pictures on our hard drives. We don’t want to rely on persistent internet…