GearCrave

Interior Design: The Media Room

William Barnes — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 11:29:02 +0000

Do you love watching videos in supreme comfort? We have got a new direction for you. Imagine the player above projecting on a theater size screen in your own home. If you are considering redecorating or remodeling your home and are unsure where to start, there are some interior design tips that can help you transform your home from ordinary to extraordinary. Simple design actions, which can be achieved on a budget, can make a remarkable difference in the way your home appears to your family and guests.

For the home theater room, it is imperative that you make the media center the focal point of the room. Positioning seating pieces in a semi-circle will help to increase the flow of the room and make it appear seamless and inviting. Adding small plant stands and discreet lighting will add a charm and appeal that is cozy, but not overbearing. Much of interior design is often centered around proper lighting.

It is important to keep the function of the room in mind when you choose its lighting. For a home theater, string lighting and lighting built discreetly into the ceilings and walls with adjustable dimmers will provide maximum options and allow you to fine tune levels according the scenario. String lighting also is preferable for a media center room because it provides a more intimate feeling.

When you are watching your direct tv packages, you’ll appreciate the coziness and charm you have created by simply installing top-notch lighting and positioning the seating arrangements in a way which flows well. The small plants can also be complemented by small pieces of wall art to add a splash of color. Choose wall art pieces that are not too large so the focus is not taken away from the TV. Make sure that all accessories and wall art pieces are put into the room in moderation. Providing too many focal points will only serve to create a distraction.

The Future of Laptop Designs

William Barnes — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 20:54:58 +0000

Laptops used to be bulky, slow, and just plain inconvenient. These days, the laptop is a fashionable powerhouse, which play’s a leading role in one’s lifestyle and business. Thanks to the exponential rate at which innovative technological products are being churned out, the average consumer will soon be spoiled for choice as the laptop will continue to evolve into more unusual, creative, and attractive designs.

The launch of the latest Apple MacBook Air very promptly reminded the laptop design industry that Apple is still the leading player pushing consumers to redefine their needs and wants through innovative design. Rumor has it that the Apple team is also hard at work studying the feasibility of the MacBook 0801. Designed by Isamu Sanada, the MacBook 0801 features an ultra-thin, transparent keyboard.

Similarly, Sony has also released a new Vaio Zoom notebook concept featuring a laptop that comes with a completely transparent screen. Thanks to holographic technology, the translucent screen will turn opaque when the laptop is in use. It is said that even the mouse buttons are holographic, and the laptop is encased in thin glass.

While these designs are extremely cutting-edge, the future of laptop design includes all of the practical excellence that we’re used to. The Dell Latitude Z600 exemplifies the more down-to-business approach to high-end laptops. The Z600 is the world’s thinnest and lightest 16″ laptop, making it extremely portable but also large enough to work comfortably on. But it does have a few tricks up its sleeve. With business card scanning and wireless battery charging, Dell’s new show pony can impress as well as the rest.

Transparent technology aside, a more niche-market laptop would be the Siafu concept notebook, which does not come with any display screen. The Siafu is meant to be utilized by the blind, who will read the data from applications and web sites by interpreting the 3-dimensional shapes that will appear on the surface of the laptop.

With the growing awareness of environmental issues, most laptop designers have been inspired to create more energy-efficient laptops. The e-Book by LF is an eco-friendly laptop in the sense that it utilizes fuel cell batteries and light-emitting diode (OLED) display technology.

The Compenion concept notebook designed by Felix Schmidberger is similar to a tablet and also comes with an OLED touch screen. The exciting thing about the Compenion is that a second OLED touch screen can be slid away from underneath the first touch screen, meaning that the user will be able to work on a setup with two monitors. It is one of the rare laptop designs that replaces the familiar clam shell approach with two sliding LED panels. The design makes the Compenion super thin at 0.75 inches in width.

The most futuristic laptop would have to be the Nextep Computer, which is designed to be worn as a bracelet and also features OLED touch screen. Similar to the Vaio Zoom, the Nextep Computer will feature a holographic screen, and the bracelet will also come with extra pull-out keyboard panels. The bracelet-cum-laptop is said to make its debut in 2020.

GPS Enabled Inhalers About to Hit the Market?

danseitz — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 20:00:18 +0000

It’s a little friend asthmatics know all too well: the faithful, tiny, inhaler. Sometimes quite literally a life saver, most asthma sufferers have one and go through three or four a year. Now, in addition to allowing them to breathe, a scientist wants to use them to figure out why we get asthma in the first place.

How? With GPS units on inhalers!

It’s not as crazy as it sounds. The inhalers, which would also have a WiFi unit, would record location and time of use every time they were used, and send the information to a central server.

For the patient, it helps them and their doctor figure out what the patient might be doing to aggravate their asthma, or certain times and locations that might trigger an attack.

For the epidemiologists, it gives them a more detailed look at what parts of the country have the most asthma attacks, at what times, and in what conditions. Basically, they could get a better handle on what triggers attacks and how to fight it off.

There’s a lot of potential here to get insight into what triggers asthma and why. Of course, you still have to convince the people buying inhalers to shell out for what amounts to a bottle of steroids with an antenna on it, but one step at a time.

Why Did Flip Get Killed By Cisco?

danseitz — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 17:00:22 +0000

Flip owned 35% of the camcorder market, which it took over in just a few years. It was incredibly popular, and still is, selling heavily on Amazon. Then it was bought by Cisco, and now they’re taking the technology and shutting down the company, and in the process, killing off the next great Flip product, FlipLive.

Why? Because Flip’s new product was going to cost them a fortune.

The Flip is no film camera, but for its size and price, it takes a pretty good video. And it was about to get even better with the FlipLive, a camera that could instantly show video from any WiFi hotspot.

So why is Flip dead, and the FlipLive no more? Because Cisco makes a lot of money on expensive, elaborate video conferencing gear, and a company they owned was about to roll out a cheap solution that would have eradicated a good chunk of that market. After all, if you’ve got a little camera with WiFi and a secure way to share the info…why buy one of Cisco’s huge systems?

The problem was, no new product, no reason to have the company, so Cisco decided to axe the entire division, which they weren’t running well anyway, and eat $590 million instead of losing even more.

Our thoughts are with the terminated Flip employees, and we hope they start a new company just to show Cisco up. Cisco deserves it.

One Step Closer to Google Music?

danseitz — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:00:48 +0000

One thing Google doesn’t have, that Apple and Amazon, their current competition, do have, is a music store. Google will help you find music to buy, but you can’t buy music from them. Sure, Google bought a music service, but it seems up in the air as to what that service will actually be doing.

Well, courtesy of their dev blog, we just got a hint.

OK, so the posting itself is boringly technical and seemingly innocuous. It’s just detailing that now, instead of billing directly to your credit card, Android app developers can set up apps to bill your cell phone carrier. Not a big deal. They’ve had it on T-Mobile and a few other networks for a while, and are just rolling it out on Sprint. So what?

Well, aside from giving app developers another way to collect their cash, which is always welcome, it means Google is slowly expanding and developing ways to make small payments through various means, including the carriers.

That’s kind of a clue that they have something else they’d like you to make small payments on. Nothing’s definite, but don’t be surprised if there’s an Android music store this time next year.

The Eco Extreme to Nature: STFU!

danseitz — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:00:01 +0000

One thing I think most reasonable human beings can’t stand is when some jackass gets on the bus with his cell phone and starts playing his music over the tinny little speaker. It’s annoying, it’s invasive, and inevitably his taste in music sucks (at least listen to some Mos Def, suburban white kid who thinks he’s “street”).

Fortunately, Grace Digital, not wanting people in the country to feel left out of the douche parade, have a fifty dollar solution: a waterproof case with a speaker on it.

You shouldn’t have. No, really, what the hell, guys?

Seriously, why does this thing even exist in the first place? I would get a waterproof case, because for hikers, kayakers, and very clumsy people who keep dropping it into puddles and sewers, it makes sense. But why does it have a speaker?

And a tiny speaker, no less? Who goes out into the woods or on the river blasting their music over a tiny little speaker that mostly serves to announce the presence of somebody who just can’t bear to be listening to music and for you not to know that they are listening to music?

This is why, where I grew up, they handed out buttons that said “Why is it called tourist season if we can’t shoot them?” Just something to think about.

DARPA Wants To Control Lethal Robot Planes With Holographic Sunglasses

danseitz — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:00:51 +0000

This is why I love my job: I can write headlines like this, because they are absolutely 100% true. DARPA wants to give one guy, on the ground, some fancy sunglasses that he will use to call in airstrikes. Suck on that, Call of Duty.

Also, are they for sale?

Here’s the deal: DARPA, of course, is the Pentagon’s absolutely insane research department. These are the guys building flying submarines, cars for the blind, and homing bullets (no, seriously: they are literally working on every single one of those projects). They want to be able to x-ray continents. They’re turning cockroaches into cyborgs. They’re above the law, have a huge amount of money, and are awesome and scary all at once.

So, when told to figure out a way to make calling in airstrikes a simple process with no paperwork and even fewer civilian casualties, DARPA has come back with goggles that overlay a map and other information onto the user’s visual field, allowing one guy to pick a target and send that target to the drone.

It’s still in testing stages, but one guy with airstrike power seems to me a little too conservative. Let’s give every soldier on the ground airstrike power. Why mess around? Airstrike goggles for everybody!

Windows 8 Available for Stealing, er, Download, If You Want a Virus

danseitz — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:00:37 +0000

So, Windows 8 is in beta testing, and, almost inevitably, it has escaped from the beta lab and is rampaging across the wilderness, eating sheep and terrifying farmers…oh, wait, that was our genetic experiment.

No, it’s just hanging out on torrents, saying “‘Sup?” and getting downloaded by the curious to see how it’s different from Windows 7. So far, survey says…not that different!

As we don’t want to deal with a swarm of lawyers flying on their bat wings from Redmond to land on our roof and start throwing subpeonas and poo, we won’t be posting any of the leaked screenshots, but we’ll be happy to somebody who will. In short, it’s what you expect from a non-major change in Windows: same basic interface, same basic functions, plus some frillery and puffery that isn’t remotely necessary, but makes the OS look cool and helps you justify paying $100 for some software that really should have gone to an iPad or something.

The big news is that Windows is including an App Store, which will no doubt lead to even more “look and feel” jokes. Beyond that, well, it’s Windows. We’re not really sure what we’re supposed to get excited about here. Maybe it comes on a tablet?

Mobee To Give Your Apple Keyboard a Charge

danseitz — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 20:00:46 +0000

If you’re an Apple user, you’re probably familiar with Mobee’s technology already. Mobee makes inductive chargers for all sorts of gear, but really blew up when they made an inductive charger for Apple’s Mighty Mouse, which always was kind of a pain to recharge. Mobee solved that problem, and now they’re about to make life even easier for Apple users.

They’ve got a charger coming for Apple’s wireless keyboard and Magic Trackpad. If you’ve used the things, you’re already cheering, because they eat batteries like some sort of Battery Monster. But even better is the design.

Mobee has constructed a bar-like device that connects to both the keyboard and the trackpad to charge them both while keeping them usable during their powering up, unlike other chargers we’ve seen. This alone makes it worth it, but it gets better.

The setup is incredibly simple and takes less than a minute: you just slide it onto the keyboard, plug the Magic Bar into a USB port, and you’re done.

What we really like about this is how green it is. You save batteries, you save money, you save time, you don’t even need an AC adapter, and you can even recycle it if you need to. Pretty much perfect for techies and greenies alike.

Vudu Finally Gets Browser Streaming

danseitz — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 17:00:10 +0000

Online video streaming has gone from that goofy YouTube video you uploaded for your mom to a major industry in the space of about five years. But the number of competitors has stayed pretty limited: Netflix has dominated pretty much the entire market, with Hulu controlling most of TV only thanks to being owned by a few networks. But the ‘Flix has controlled movies online, especially in browsers…until now.

Yes, Vudu, your would-be online video store, has finally managed to get browser streaming up and running. It wasn’t a technical challenge, obviously; it was a rights problem.

Unfortunately, those rights problems rear its ugly head again when it comes to the quality: the highest video quality you’ll get is 480p. The higher quality streams are apparently being sorted out for separate applications.

On the other hand, at least for your dollar you get instant access to your rentals, right there in your browser.

Does this change the online video landscape? Not at the moment: Netflix still has a death grip on the vast majority of the customers, and Vudu is still picking up the scraps. On the other hand, it’s stayed alive through the settop box wars and just scored a major victory…so they’re worth keeping an eye on.

VUDU: Now with 1080p Goodness

LG Window To Make Ads Even More Annoying

danseitz — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 20:00:43 +0000

There’s an arms race going on in displays right now. Samsung and LG are competing with each other to create the biggest, brightest transparent screen possible, complete with touch capability. They look awesome, they perform exactly how you’d want them to, they are full HD, and you will never be allowed to own one.

Why?

Because they’re being developed for advertisers, not for home use. Which is a bit like a weapons manufacturer admitting “Yeah, we’re designing this to be used for pretty much pure, unmitigated evil. It even has a “kill parents and make new orphans cry over their corpses” button. So what?”

We all know what these displays will be used for. If we’re lucky, they will have annoying dancing cartoon characters to entertain children while pointing you towards your hotel. If we’re unlucky, Fruity Oaty Bars and Blade Runner will be prescient.

What’s frustrating is how awesome these displays are. Oh, sure, they’re ungodly expensive. They’re enormous touchscreens, which only became cheap enough for large corporations to consider using huge ones thanks to the iPad driving down costs. Still, that they’re being shown at all, and then to be told they’ll be used to sell beer, is just aggravating. At least think about a consumer model, guys.

iPad To Be Your Next Photoshop Tool?

danseitz — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:00:41 +0000

The iPad is, of course, a cleverly designed, highly versatile tool, something we’ve covered repeatedly here on Gearcrave. But, thanks to their ongoing war/nerd fight/peeing match over Flash vs. HTML5, Adobe hasn’t really tapped the full potential of the iPad as an input tool for Photoshop.

Fortunately, just as a full-featured Photoshop for iPad is being developed, so are apps to use with your desktop to make Photoshop just that much better.

Adobe recently debuted three new apps for iPad that will be released at the same time as the 5.5 Creative Suite update. All three are great tools and dirt cheap, at least by the standards of what you generally pay for Photoshop.

The first, Nav, is fairly straightforward: you use it to select tools and photos while working, and it’s mostly designed for environments where quick turnover is the rule. It’s cleverly designed, though, and seems very efficient.

The second, Eazel, is what it sounds like: an input tool where you use your finger instead of your mouse, although we hope there’s stylus support for fine control. Finally, there’s Lava, which is essentially a color mixing palette.

None of them are really revolutionary in concept, but they’re great in execution, and we can’t wait to try them out.

GearCrave

Interior Design: The Media Room

Most Commented Posts

The Future of Laptop Designs

Related Posts

GPS Enabled Inhalers About to Hit the Market?

Related Posts

Why Did Flip Get Killed By Cisco?

Related Posts

One Step Closer to Google Music?

Related Posts

The Eco Extreme to Nature: STFU!

Related Posts

DARPA Wants To Control Lethal Robot Planes With Holographic Sunglasses

Most Commented Posts

Windows 8 Available for Stealing, er, Download, If You Want a Virus

Related Posts

Mobee To Give Your Apple Keyboard a Charge

Related Posts

Vudu Finally Gets Browser Streaming

Related Posts

LG Window To Make Ads Even More Annoying

Related Posts

iPad To Be Your Next Photoshop Tool?

Related Posts