Technology 2008

What excitement does 2008 hold for us in the technology department? Quite a lot actually.

Just too late to prevent people buying the ‘wrong technology’ for Christmas; in early January backers of the Blu-ray high definition DVD system predicted victory in the format wars with HD DVD. The announcement was prompted by Warner Brothers Home Entertainment deciding to go with Blu-ray, a decision according to their president that was driven by consumers. He sited sales figures that indicate films on Blu-ray outsold those on HD DVD by a factor of three. Amongst the big film studios only Paramount and Universal now support the Microsoft/Toshiba HD DVD. Sony who own the Blu-ray technology are talking to retailers about helping HD DVD owners who want to move to Blu-ray.

Twenty years ago a similar format war erupted between Betamax and VHS video formats. VHS, the cheaper but lesser quality format won. This time it looks as though consumers are demanding quality regardless of cost.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas during January saw the unveiling of 20,000 new gadgets and technologies from 2,700 companies. Here are a few to look out for in 2008.

Dash Express

You may not be lawfully able to communicate with others whilst you are driving but what about your GPS unit? Dash Navigation unveiled a GPS unit that can transmit information over a permanent Internet connection as well as receive it. Other GPS units pick up the transmissions and transmit their own data. All the information is processed back at Dash HQ. The units can tell you how to avoid traffic jams, the location of parking spaces, even movie times. Smart GPS has been developed in conjunction with Yahoo to allow more general searches of Internet sites so you will be able to find petrol stations selling the cheapest fuel, vacancies at hotels, weather forecasts and other travel information.

Slacker

This is a portable media player which uses a wi-fi connection to help you find new bands and musicians. It is labelled the world’s first personalised radio player. It works by remembering your musical preferences and downloads songs each time you enter a wi-fi hotspot or connect the device to a computer. The Slacker, about the size of an Internet ready mobile phone, has space for 40 different ‘radio stations’ holding up to 4,000 songs.

VideoReDo

Fed up with recording ads on your DVD along with the film? Now there is a piece of software developed by VideoReDo that strips out the ads and records the edited programme onto a DVD.

TN Games

The latest gaming accessory is a vest. Full of air pockets, the vest is plugged into your PC through a USB port. Air is pumped into the air bladders according to the sensations you would expect to feel when for instance, flying an aircraft at high speed, driving a car round a bend and even, for the masochists, getting shot. TN have also designed sleeves, leg covers and a helmet that plug into the vests giving what TN describe as ‘a full body gaming experience’. The vests were first developed to allow doctors to perform remote examinations of patients.

Toys For Boys

The Woowee stand was a sensation with a range of robots. The robots have wi-fi enabled packs and a web cam that allow them to be controlled from any web accessible device like a PC, cell phone or games console. Wheeled robots also feature a GPS system that allows them to navigate around their environment. One robot, called Tribot, also tells jokes, reads stories and plays games, the perfect child minder. Other models have furry coatings and are assembled to look like animals, pandas, polar bears and tigers. They all feature animated faces and realistic noises. One hi-tech toy was a flying robot with infra red sensors that allowed it to fly autonomously. Scary stuff.

Toys For Girls

In a related technology a consortium of Japanese companies and researchers are developing a networking standard that allows mobile phones to connect to domestic appliances. No more ringing ‘hubby’ to turn the oven on. You can ring the oven direct. The technology is already being tested in Japan. At CES, Las Vegas, a demonstration allowed a user to control an entire flat in Tokyo, switching the lights on and off, controlling the air conditioning and setting the washing machine to run. They also showed off healthcare applications of the technology including a wireless nappy for use by bedridden patients and a remote heart monitor.

The Future

Bill Gates, although refusing to comment on the HD DVD/Blu-ray war, was not so reticent about his vision of the future. It is, naturally, a Microsoft future that Bill calls the age of digital senses. He predicts the keyboard and mouse will disappear to make room for touch vision and speech interfaces. The computer will also evolve with the ability to ‘see’ what you are doing and talk to you. As one correspondent remarked, ‘Talking to Bill leaves you shaken and stirred’.