uuuggh major hangover :(
The shape of gifts to come →
The vodkamatic
Freshly distilled and drip-fed to your own hip flask, a steady supply of vodka could be produced by a bioreactor-on-a-chip that runs a continuous fermentation and distillation process. All the necessary components, mostly based on microfluidics, are under development and could be turned into consumer products - local liquor laws permitting.
Lord of the ringers
This phone will let you listen to digital radio, watch TV, check the weather, find buried treasure - and, yes, even call your friends. To manage all this it will use software that reprograms the radio circuitry so it can pick up any number of different signal types, including Wi-Fi, 3G phone networks and digital TV. Throw in chip-based, reconfigurable sensors - under development at the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) - and the phone could also measure pressure, temperature and even magnetic fields.
Space invader
Fill the space around you with glowing images that hang in the air and you will be able to step inside a computer game. A powerful laser projector generates streams of ultra-short, precisely focused pulses that ionise the air, creating point-flashes of light that can be used to construct virtual 3D objects. While the US army wants to use the technology to put snipers off their aim, engineers at Burton, a company based in Kawasaki City, Japan, are aiming to have a demo system ready for the high street by 2011.
Video-stitched cellphone streams go widescreen
With video a virtually ubiquitous cellphone function, there are ever-fewer public events, from back-room gigs to street performances, that aren’t filmed by multiple cellphones. But let’s face it, the footage often disappoints.
Now researchers from Microsoft’s labs in Cairo, Egypt, have developed a way to combine the video from multiple phones capturing views of the same scene into larger, more detailed footage to be broadcast live online.”
Bottle Wrapping…
My Grandmother has everything but a thoughtful and considerate grandson
