Latest Inventions

posted by admin on Aug 10

Why cram your office full of old-fashioned phone technology - when the solution is to get rid of it all!

You don’t need a separate scanner and fax machine anymore (the 2 are combined), a whole room for your computers (laptops are shrinking) or even a computer to update your emails or write documents (a smart phone or iPad will do!).

So why are you still struggling to maintain and house your hired phone system in your office?

If you are thinking of improving your business - and the perception of your business - then VoIP for business could be just what you are looking for - so let’s learn more about what it can offer the small and large business - whatever your business!

VoIP Today:
This Internet-based communication system was first hyped up to get ‘free’ phone calls over the Internet by plugging a headset into your computer - but it has certainly come a long way now.

Your office phone system could be completely off-site - with no hiring, storage and maintenance of hefty or bulky equipment - basically you just have your own phones and your existing phone line - everything else is off-site and so there is nothing to worry about.

Basically, you can have all the services you currently have with your ground-based phone system with the constantly improving Internet-based VoIP.  Whether it’s conference calls, call divert or ansa-phone systems - it will all be exactly the same as before - only better!

Not only will it be better - but it will be quicker, easier and cheaper than your existing system - virtually guaranteed!

Business Benefits:
Well, the most obvious benefit will be the financial savings involved!  Not only are VoIP calls cheaper in the first place - you won’t be having to pay to hire any equipment to get started.

There will be no maintenance costs at all - as all the equipment is off-site, except your own phones and computers.  Any upgrades can be quickly and easily added to your account overnight via your IP rather than having to change software or hardware yourself (no doubt at an extra cost as well!).

There is also no need to sign a long term contract as these services are usually charged for monthly usage only rather than the huge investment you make by taking on a whole hardware system. 

And most businesses can save between 50-85% on existing calls - as you simply pay for each user, not the number of calls they make!  So no more paying extra to call during working hours - or waiting to the weekend to save a few pence a minute.  And think of that ‘free’ time on the phone to spend on talking to your new clients, or calling to update your existing clients and answer any of their questions.

You can be online with your new VoIP system in minutes rather than having to waste days fitting and wiring a contract system throughout your office - and of course there is no need to stay in the same office for the length of your contract to save moving it all and rewiring everything at your new office.  This system is totally phone-line based and is only fixed to a phone number - not a building or postcode!

And you don’t even need to give up your existing business numbers to sign up - they are totally transferable onto your business VoIP account!

I don’t know what you are waiting for!

posted by admin on Jul 16

In no particular order, this months articles all seem to have a numbers theme!

There are 100 amazing these, 50 free those and 5 more of something else!

All listed like the articles they will lead you to - you have the choice as to what you want to hop on the links for to have a more in-depth look into. They all tell you roughly what area they cover - so you can go from there.

And I hope you can use some of these well researched links…….

1) Rose King offers a massive energy listing with her huge article on: 100 Amazing Lectures to Follow the Future of Energy.

2) Suzane Smith helps us to modify our design work or school work with: 70 Awesome Open Source Tools for Graphic Designers.

3) Alvaro Cramton geeks it up with: Top 50 Computer Science Blogs.

4) Leonard Gilhooley sees through all this with these great images to see the unseen with: 5 Sites With Free & Interesting X-Ray Photos.

5) Diane Laine chirps and tweets out about her social networking research with: 5 Twitter Users Every Info Junkie Should Follow.

6) Alex Carson offers us teachers a huge resource pool with his massive listings of: 100 Great Tech Talks for Educators.

7) Engelbert Hudson brings us back to routine with our monthly injection of apps - but this time for study with: 25 Excellent iPad Apps for Scripture Study.

So, there must be something for everyone in that bunch!

If not, then join us next month for the next Latest Inventions Blog Carnival.  We are always on the lookout for great articles - and the odd apps listing.  Whether it’s science, space, medicine or some gadget just for fun - if it’s new or a great research article - then send it in right here to share with all my readers.

posted by admin on Jun 16

This edition is all about medical technology and advances - and there have been plenty sent in this month……

Lets start small with Peggy Stoppelmoor well researched article on 25 Ways Nanotechnology is Revolutionizing Medicine. and we can only get bigger from there, can’t we?

Just a short one from Glory Scott comes next with a few impressive links about How To Learn About Xray Technology for Free, and then another 2 quickies by Heather Sanders highlighting the technology needed for Everything You Need to Know About Radiology Technology and Top 50 Medical Technology Blogs.

Whoopie Patterson comes in here with her list of 10 Essential Web Tools for Research Scientists if you are already researching the next medical advances - and you might even be able to get yourself a grant from it!

And maybe the health-care professional out there may want some web tools too to help keep their CPD on the move - so take a peek at John Laugherton short piece on 10 Essential Webtools for Healthcare Professionals.

Of course, it wouldn’t be complete without some apps now would it?

So let’s join Elisha Knackwood with her Top 25 Android Apps for Your Health and Happiness -and Melissa Seyfried with hers: 5 Excellent iPhone Apps for Health & Medical Reference.

Feel Better Now?

posted by admin on Jun 6

Imagine holding up a box of LEGO to a screen - and seeing a 3D image of the fully assembled model!

That is exactly what you can do right now, not just with that one ‘toy’ brand but with dozens of others - and the technology doesn’t just stop at games and gadgets - this new world of imaging could be appearing right in front of you in the street!

Soon, we won’t have to just guess what things will look like when made, we won’t have to guess where that repair store is on a busy high street - and you won’t even have to take your chances in a new restaurant without seeing the reviews of it’s past customers!

Augmented Reality (AG) - although first invented in 1968 by Ivan Sutherland - was truely brought to life in 1999 with the use of software that detected and reacted to ‘markers’ for image tracking.  Then it was developed the following year as a great way to bring text books to life with 3-dimensional images being more helpful than flat pictures - and basically - why stop there?

AG has been used for years on the TV - and watching the football teams pop up on screen as the players ‘warm up’ is a classic example; and showing the ’finish line’ over the river in a boat race is another ‘everyday’ use.  But we didn’t want an inanimate object - we wanted to be in charge of the images.

Initially driven by sales of merchandise, these AG software packages allowed consumers to ‘play’ with their gadget before buying it so to speak.  They could see images of their preferred product and even turn it around to see it from all angles before spending any money - even comparing the finished product to a similar one.

This is a huge step forward from the AG systems that need head mounted displays (HMD’s) to work.  Think back to when we thought that seeing computer information on the inside of your glasses was amazing - now it looks like you don’t even need the glasses!

The Future:
Well, think about films where computer screens seem to be on a whole table, the wall or even ‘floating’ in mid air and you can use your hands to move sections of it.  This could be coming very soon.

There are currently people working on whole room set-ups (spatial displays) that will allow you to overlay certain images into the space given - say for example looking at a new bathroom suite in your actual bathroom - try before you buy type of thing!  A new kitchen, lounge, office suite - the list is endless once you think about it.  But obviously it will have scientific uses first, like designing new hospitals, spaceships and whole environments maybe?

It is already being used in manufacturing - where the HMD’s contain step by step instructions that are triggered by the component parts and medical breakthroughs are also allowing layers of the human body to be seen simultaneously by surgeons to complete operations faster and safer.

So rather than a virtual reality - where you step into a computer generated world - this new reality is where the computers move into your world, and hopefully improve it!

However, I can imagine a hacker getting in to one of the programs and then a HMD AG fan could find New York City with wild animals or even aliens around every corner!

Source: BBC Focus Magazine.

posted by admin on May 16

Spring is in full swing - and there is plenty of news in the technology world - and here are just some of the latest inventions and gadgets…….

So, lets get started with a great intro in to the world of science, with Tisha Dotson thorough listing of: 50 Excellent Science Blogs Anyone Can Appreciate. And many of these I already read myself!

And if it is engineering you are interested in, then take a serious look at Jennifer Kingsley post about the different areas of engineering that are out there - and there is quite some choice: 50 Free Open Courseware Classes About Every Type of Engineering.

And to follow, Angelita Williams has her list fo the 100 Best RSS Feeds to Follow Engineering News, and Olivia Davis lists for us the 50 Great Green Architecture & Design Blogs.

And talking of technology and engineering - take a look at the amazing Developments in E-paper Devices by Marco Gustafsson.

Glory Scott enlightens us to the Medical Industry with his short guide to the 25 Notable Start-ups Changing the Medical Information Industry and what they are offering both business and customers like yourself.  And Jennifer Kingsley stays on the medical front with her second entry this month - with her extensive article detailing 17 Ways Mobile Computing Is Changing Medicine and Healthcare. An interesting read indeed!

And finally, the apps: Engelbert Hudson gives us his 25 Essential Free iPhone Apps for e-Learners.

See you in June……