posted by admin on Oct 19
STUFF LIVE - The UK’s Leading Technology Show
Here is your chance to see the newest technology and computer games around today.
See exclusive gadgets
Play the latest video games
Quiz the experts
Chill out in the STUFF lounge
Hear the worlds best Hi-Fi
Touch tomorrows technology
Play Guitar Hero on stage
And win loads of great prizes
All at:
ExCel, LONDON - 31 October - 2nd November 2008
Book now to avoid the queues……
posted by admin on Sep 27
We are on the verge of SmartGarments being the norm!
Apple and Nike have been cooperating on some technology that will combine their sales power with the latest technology. They are hoping to make iPods that will only work if you are wearing certain Nike clothes. After Digital Right Management went free-for-all with 7Digital, the leading companies need the ball back in their court.
This might seem like a weird venture with the intention of just selling more clothes to people, but thinking about the possibilities it offers, it’s not that bad an idea.
What are the Benefits:
Well, the basic theory for this technology at the moment is for a companion component of Apple’s iPod to be inserted into a piece of Nike footwear and possibly clothes.
The software in this component would enable the ‘wearer’ to monitor their athletic performance, such as tracking their heart rate or counting the distance travelled in a set time. Great for athletes who are serious about their performance and to improve their achievements.
There is also talk for the software to be able to act almost like a GPS cross SatNav, allowing the runner/walker/rower to be alerted as to the best route to an endpoint or specific location such as a restaurant or scenic route.
There is even talk of this component being able to warn the wearer of damage to the sports shoes or other equipment which could affect performance or safety.
Great idea in my book - especially if you are serious about your outdoor pursuits.
What are the arguments against:
Well, the main concern is the exclusivity of the whole deal - basically you can’t get the software to work unless you have purchased certain items of clothing. You are almost being forced to buy certain products that you may not otherwise have purchased.
In theory wouldn’t need to buy these exact clothes and an iPod if you were going to use a standard mp3 player of your choice with separate pedometer and heart rate monitor and when you also carried around a GPS phone or SatNav gadget and did it all yourself.
I’m afraid that this attitude is a bit narrow minded in my eyes, as we are always made to buy the exact equipment that inventors invent otherwise they wouldn’t make any money from their efforts and wouldn’t bother inventing a whole host of other great stuff.
Can you imagine a world where Ford made parts that fitted a Volkwagen, Nokia made phone components that fitted onto a Siemens handset or Boeing traded mechanical parts with Airbus? It just wouldn’t happen - so why can’t Apple and Nike make clothes that only work with their personal parts?
Why should we be able to buy cheap superstore running shoes to use with the special iPod when they haven’t contributed at all to the technological advances that made it possible?
Anyway, the chirping alarm would keep going off from the moment you put them on, to tell you that they were no good for running and the soles were too thin!
Why use cutting edge technology in cheap equipment? Would you fly for 10 hours in a ‘plane if the spare parts were all made by your local dollar store?
posted by admin on May 17
Ever wanted to know what bird that is singing in the trees? Ever wondered where that amazing bird call is coming from in the bushes? Well now you can have your answer instantly with the Bird Voice (BV) Pen.
This new product is a clever extension of the new world of MP3 and flash technology, as it harnesses recorded sounds for instant recall.
How It Works:
Basically it stores the sounds of over 270 bird calls and songs (as well as further habitat information etc) on the ‘pen’, with room to spare for music tracks or further bird sounds.
This pen however, is nothing special on it’s own really (apart from it’s use as an MP3 player) - and of no use to you in the field - but this is where the clever part steps in.
This company have developed a picture set of common British Birds and assigned a ‘code’ to each picture. This is activated by the Bird Voice pen passing over it - a bit like a bar-code and associated reader - but rather than the bird flashing up a price - the BV pen instantly plays the song of that bird to you.
Whether you buy their waterproof field guide (with just basic pictures) or their entire organiser of birds with habitat icons, distributions maps and much more, you will have instant access to 270 bird calls at the swipe of your hand.
As this company know that most birders will already have their own field guides and reference books and know their way round them very well, they have also come up with stickers of their bird calls, that you can peel off and place on your own guides rather than having to learn the layout of a new book.
The Company:
Their website is rather plain and basic (www.birdvoice.co.uk), but it does allow you to listen to some of the calls before you buy, and shows you a list of all the birds on the recordings. It covers all the details of each item including sizes, organisation of species, special features and costs.
The most expensive item is, of course, the BV pen full of all the data (currently £99.95), and this pen doesn’t work without the field guides (£15 and £35) or stickers (£15), so expected costs will be over £115 for the bird songs to come to life.
It is however, a fantastic concept and makes tracking bird calls very easy in the field - and instantly. There’s no messing around, searching for the right sounds amongst everything else - they can be listened to straight away. Something that was impossible before.
Of course, it can also be used at home like any other recorded bird song software or Cd’s so you can practice identifying common calls before setting off into the woods……
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posted by admin on May 7
We’ve all been there - accidentally deleting one of our favourite photos from the digital camera.
It’s still there in the memory, but you won’t ever see it again. Will you?
Maybe You Will:
Because, I’ve come across a group of software packages in the making that will not only allow you to retrieve that image from your xD card, but also your camcorder and many flash memory storage devices, including MP3 players and even your Sony PSP.
The company is called Media Innovations Group LTD, who have been retrieving images from digital still cameras for over a decade. They have been selling and supporting their ‘Don’t Panic ImageRecall Software’ for 6 of those years and are now expanding to cover new technology.
What Do They Do?
Basically they offer advice, support, repair and recovery for everyone - you don’t have to be a big company - you can be just you with some important images to retrieve. They work with CompactFlash, MultiMedia, Secure Digital, xD Picture Cards, Smart Media, Microdrive and Memory Stick.
They sell their standard package for £25 (prices vary throughout Europe, New Zealand and the US) which comes with user manual with screen shots and a demo video to get you started, and if your PC allows you can then burn the images onto CD. The software runs on Windows 2000, XP and Vista, as well as their newly advertised MAC version for OS 10.3 and above).
Because they offer ongoing support rather than selling a stand alone product, if you cannot retrieve the data yourself or the hardware is too corrupt for their software to be effective, you can send it off to their labs where they will try to retrieve anything using advanced tools. There is no charge if they cannot locate anything.
Their site (www.imagerecall.com) also has some simple ‘Prevention Tips’ for you to help limit the chances of you losing data in the first place.
It’s well worth a visit just for that - I found it very handy during my month long trip around Costa Rica where I filled my 4mb worth of camera memory several times over!
I didn’t want to lose even one of those pictures……..
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