Friday, May 02, 2014

drag2share: This Is What The Kitchen Of The Future Could Look Like

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/kitchen-of-the-future-2014-4

nutrima electrolux

Homes are becoming smarter than ever, and arguably nowhere is that push more apparent than in the kitchen. 

With Wi-Fi-enabled refrigerators and appliances that can text you alerts, companies like LG and GE are leading the charge into developing some seriously high-tech ways to cook. 

One trend involves looking at the kitchen as the social hub of the home. 

"The kitchen is really a multifunctional living space where people cook and socialize with friends," Chris Bissig, manager of concept and brand development at GE Appliances, said to Business Insider. "Some of these technologies might let people share meals even if they're not in the same place." 

As far as aesthetics, versatility is key in the kitchen of the future. 

"Our vision is of a clean, white island top. You could place the pots and pans wherever they need to be placed," Bissig said. "It's minimal, simple, with lots of flexibility." 

We've rounded up some of the most compelling ideas we've seen for the kitchen of the future. While some products are available for purchase now, others could be a bit farther out.  

"It's hard to predict when all of this will be available," Bissig said. "A lot of the technology is already out there, but it may not be together in a package." 

The TopBrewer will have your coffee ready before you're out of bed.

Scanomat's TopBrewer would be a sleek addition to any countertop. Though it may look like just another faucet, it can dispense a multitude of drinks, including freshly brewed coffee, espresso, and cappuccinos, as well as sparkling water, milk, and soda. 

The TopBrewer is also easily controlled by your smartphone or tablet, meaning that you can quickly prepare your favorite customized drinks from another room in the house. Very quickly, in fact — 15 seconds is all it takes to brew a cup of coffee.

The entire system costs about $11,000.



The iDevices kitchen thermometer texts you when your food is cooked.

This kitchen thermometer from iDevices uses Bluetooth to alert you when your food has reached its optimal temperature, making it easy to multitask while you're cooking. 

Its two prongs will even let you cook two different meats at once, even if they're at different temperatures. The two-pronged version retails for $80, while a miniature model with one probe costs just $40. 



LG's HomeChat will let you text your appliances as if they were people.

With LG's HomeChat system, introduced at CES 2014, users will actually be able to text commands to their appliances to make them more useful. The system will be programmed to respond to conversational language, so texting something like "Do we have eggs?" or "Is the milk expired?" will make your refrigerator respond as any helpful person would. 

LG plans to make HomeChat available for all of its appliances, including dishwashers, vacuums, and laundry machines. You can even get recipe suggestions from your oven, then have it automatically program itself to cook your meal.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






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Thursday, May 01, 2014

drag2share: A Timelapse of All the Earthquakes From This Record-Breaking April

Source: http://gizmodo.com/a-timelapse-of-all-the-earthquakes-from-this-record-bre-1570401997

A Timelapse of All the Earthquakes From This Record-Breaking April

Didn't it seem to you that the ground was exceptionally shaky last month? That there were reports on big earthquakes happening somewhere pretty much every week? It wasn't just your imagination: April produced a higher-than-normal number of moderate-to-large earthquakes, and you can see it for yourself.

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drag2share: The Not-So-Crazy Plan to Build a Colossal Energy Skyscraper In Arizona

Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-not-so-crazy-plan-to-build-a-colossal-energy-skyscr-1569874669

The Not-So-Crazy Plan to Build a Colossal Energy Skyscraper In Arizona

This week, a small town near the U.S.-Mexico border gave an unusual company the right to build a 2,250-foot-tower, destined to become the tallest structure in the U.S. The company, Solar Wind Energy Tower Inc, is only three years old. But the idea it's hocking dates all the way back to the 1960s.

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drag2share: These Tiny Desktop Robots Are A Total Reinvention Of How We Could Interact With Software

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/thumbles-robot-user-interface-2014-5

Those sexy Minority Report-style user interfaces where menus float in front of your face seem likely to happen eventually, but we'll still need some sort of stepping stone to get there.

Thumbles might be just the intermediary to do the trick.

Instead of swiping around in the air, Thumbles have you interacting with tactile objects on a tabletop. These are tiny three-wheeled robots steered by a computer. They employ "omniwheels," which make it possible for them to move in any direction without having to turn, so Brooklyn-based Patten Studio imagines these robots as elements of a user interface.

Different software would respond in different ways — spin a robot like you're adjusting a dial and the software might adjust music volume or video color (as demoed below). It's pretty cool — check out how Patten Studio hypothesizes that Thumbles could be used.

While these are still purely hypothetical use cases, it's an impressive display of technology.

They could be used to dispatch emergency vehicles.

Thumbles

Or for playing games.

thumbles

Even for editing video — watch as the robots become color dials.

May 01, 2014 09:44

Check out the video below for a full demo:

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drag2share: This Is What Amazon's Smartphone Will Look Like

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-smartphone-renderings-2014-5

Via BGR's exclusive reporting, here's the world's first clear look at Amazon's new smartphone:

bgr amazon smartphone kindle fire phone

The phone will make use of a data plan called "Prime Data," and while the details on it are far from totally known, it's expected to piggyback on AT&T's "Sponsored Data" program. Sponsored Data allows companies to subsidize your data use, paying for the data you consume inside certain apps and services — the data used inside of certain apps effectively doesn't count against your data plan. This might mean that Amazon could offer unlimited data for music and video streaming, but this is still speculative.

BGR describes the phone as "a bit large [but] reasonably comfortable to use with one hand." It will feature a 4.7-inch 720p display, a quad-core processor, 2 GB of RAM, and Amazon's own flavor of the Android operating system, which will be instantly familiar to anyone who's used a Kindle Fire table.

It'll also have a bunch of front-facing cameras that will help produce a 3D effect on the screen.

The phone is expected to be formally unveiled sometime in the third quarter of this year.

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drag2share: This Is What Amazon's Smartphone Will Look Like

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-smartphone-renderings-2014-5

Via BGR's exclusive reporting, here's the world's first clear look at Amazon's new smartphone:

bgr amazon smartphone kindle fire phone

The phone will make use of a data plan called "Prime Data," and while the details on it are far from totally known, it's expected to piggyback on AT&T's "Sponsored Data" program. Sponsored Data allows companies to subsidize your data use, paying for the data you consume inside certain apps and services — the data used inside of certain apps effectively doesn't count against your data plan. This might mean that Amazon could offer unlimited data for music and video streaming, but this is still speculative.

BGR describes the phone as "a bit large [but] reasonably comfortable to use with one hand." It will feature a 4.7-inch 720p display, a quad-core processor, 2 GB of RAM, and Amazon's own flavor of the Android operating system, which will be instantly familiar to anyone who's used a Kindle Fire table.

It'll also have a bunch of front-facing cameras that will help produce a 3D effect on the screen.

The phone is expected to be formally unveiled sometime in the third quarter of this year.

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drag2share: Groupon Wants You To Ditch Your Costco Membership (GRPN)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/groupon-basics-bulk-shopping-2014-5

costco

Groupon just took a shot at Costco by introducing a new online bulk-shopping service called Groupon Basics, that lets users buy products in large quantities, with free shipping on purchases of over $24.99. 

Not only will this service appeal to shoppers who don't have easy access to a brick-and-mortar bulk shopping location (read: most people in big cities), but unlike Costco and Sam's Club, the service won't require a monthly membership fee. 

Right now, the Groupon Basic selection is pretty limited, but Groupon says that in the coming months it will "aggressively build out the existing categories" (which right now includes household items like soap, shampoo, and napkins) and expand into packaged and canned grocery items. 

The service has some overlap with Amazon's recently announced Prime Pantry, which lets Prime members get $45 pound boxes of everyday items. Pantry is not aimed at bulk quantities, like Basics is, but it offers speedy, two-day shipping, which Basics does not. 

The idea of making grocery shopping more convenient is a hot one right now, and if Groupon can manage to expand their selection to make it actually competitive with big box bulk shopping retailers. 

SEE ALSO: Google Has A Super Simple Way Of Scheduling Meetings With Multiple People

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drag2share: People In Texas Really Don't Want To Leave, While People In Illinois Want To Flee

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/states-where-people-want-to-move-2014-5

Data from a recent Gallup poll shows that people living in Connecticut and Illinois aren't too happy with their environment: half of residents say that, if given the chance, they'd move to a different state.

The states where people want to stay? Texas and Montana come out really well.

Connecticut Illinois Vox map

In Illinois, 50% of respondents want to leave, while only 49% do in Connecticut. Maryland was a close third, with 47% of respondents expressing the same desire. 

But in Montana, Hawaii, and Maine, 23% reported they'd move if the opportunity arose. And only 24% of respondents felt that way in Texas.

state move data

To obtain the data, Gallup conducted at least 600 interviews with people aged 18 and older across the 50 states. The survey asked, "Regardless of whether you will move, if you had the opportunity, would you like to move to another state, or would you rather remain in your current state?"

And if you consider actual intention to move, Nevada comes out on top. The highest amount of respondents in any state, 20%, plan to move in the next 12 months. 

In total, 33% of all people in the U.S. want to move to another state. 

(Via Vox)

SEE ALSO: The Happiest States In America

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Article: OpenWorm project wants you to help create the world’s first digital organism

Stephen Larson wants to create the world's first digital organism, and he starting simple — with a worm. Larson has launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to raise money to create OpenWorm as part of an effort to accelerate our understanding of the human brain. If his team succeeds, he says...

http://venturebeat.com/2014/04/30/openworm-is-going-to-be-a-digital-organism-in-your-browser/

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Article: I made a video game with a pencil and paper

Pixel Press lets you build a Mario-style iPad game any way you want When I was a kid, video games didn't end the moment I turned off the NES. If I wasn't holding a controller, I had a pencil in my hand, furiously scribbling out maps of Hyrule or alien caves for Samus to explore in Metroid. But si...

http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/30/5666092/pixel-press-review

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Article: Worm Alert! Russian Android Malware Spreads Via Text Message

Android malware that spreads via text message has been observed making its way around Russia — not the newest trick in the book, but it hasn't been seen before on the mobile OS. Should you be worried? Probably not, but it doesn't hurt to be vigilant. The worm was first observed by Robert Lipovsky...

http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/worm-alert-russian-android-malware-spreads-text-message-n94181?cid=sm_twitter_feed_tech

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Article: Disney 's New 3-D Printing Technique Makes Any Object Transmit Sound

Disney Research has revealed an exciting new technology that turns any object into a speaker. What if every object in your life could talk? A door handle warns you when someone has attempted to enter without a key. A desk ticks off your appointments when you sit down. A rubber duckie quacks at a ...

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3028044/disney-s-new-3-d-printing-technique-makes-any-object-transmit-sound

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Article: Android Modders, Your Ultimate Flagship Phone Has Arrived | Gadget Lab

If you're into tinkering with your Android device, you've probably heard of CyanogenMod. It's an open source operating system that let's you modify pretty much any aspect of your phone or tablet's software. Until now, installing CyanogenMod wasn't for the faint of heart. You had to root …

http://www.wired.com/2014/05/oneplus-one-smartphone/

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drag2share: Sony's 185TB data tape puts your hard drive to shame

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/30/sony-185tb-data-tape/

Data tape

It's hard for magnetic data tapes to stand out from the crowd in an era when it's easy to load up on legions of hard drives. However, Sony might have managed that rare feat with nano-sized tape tech that stores much more than off-the-shelf hardware. By optimizing how it sputters argon ions on to film to create magnetic material, the company has produced "nano-grained" tape that's 74 times denser than what you see today; at 185TB per cartridge, it makes even a 5TB hard disk seem quaint. Sony's breakthrough won't come to your home PC, but it could prove a big help to supercomputers and your favorite internet services -- many of them need high-capacity tape storage just to keep up with demand.

[Image credit: Theilr, Flickr]

Sony's nanoparticle-based 185TB magnetic tape

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Via: ITWorld

Source: Sony

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drag2share: Sony bets on speed with the second edition of its Alpha A77 DSLR

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/01/sony-alpha-a77-ii/

The Alpha portfolio from Sony is pretty well stacked, what with cameras like the newly minted, 4K-ready A7s. To add to that, the Japanese electronics giant today's announcing the A77 II, a successor to the 24.3-megapixel shooter it revealed back in 2011. Similar to its predecessor, Sony's A77 II features the same amount of megapixels and Exmor APS-C sensor, but this is now coupled with the Bionz X image chip that's found on the Alpha A7 and A7R cameras. There's also an OLED electronic viewfinder, which lets you see the total frame; a 3-inch LCD that can be tilted in three different positions; and NFC, so you can share pictures wirelessly to a smartphone, tablet or VAIO PC.

But the aforementioned specs don't tell the entire story. Sony wanted the most important improvements over the original Alpha A77 to be all about speed, both in terms of shooting and processing. The A77 II has a brand new focusing system, lead by 79 AF points (compared to 19 on the previous version) with 15 crossing sensors, which allow it to handle a continuous burst of up to 60 full-res photos at a maximum of 12fps -- Sony hopes this is more than enough to lure in those of you who like to take a lot of action shots. What's more, the A77 II brings improvements in the ISO department, going from 16,000 to 25,600 at its highest level, or 52,000 when expanded -- if you're a night owl (or just have a thing for the dark), you'll no doubt appreciate this.

For Sony, it's not only about stills, though: the company wants videographers to really consider the A77 II a solid alternative to, say, something like Canon's Mark III. While there's nothing surprising about the fact it can shoot 1080p movies at 60 and 24p (AVCHD 2.0), Sony believes the improved AF system inside its A77 II, which offers things like continuous face-detection, is an attribute that makes it standout from the rest of the pack. And, because we know you're going to ask, there's no 4K output to be found here.

While Sony may not have taken the biggest leap with the A77 II, there's no doubt it is still a nice upgrade. But is that plenty for you? It'll be available in June for $1,200, body-only; a kit with a 16-50mm f/2.8 lens will be sold for $1,800.

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