Category Archives: Tech Tuesday
Tech Tuesday – Real Phones Have Curves
So this is what cell phones have come to? First, the smaller phone you had, the better it was. Then, people wanted bigger and bigger phones. The next direction obviously must be curved phones. The picture above is of LG’s G Flex smart phone. The first phone of its kind, sporting a 6″ curved display.
The curved designed is accomplished by making the screen plastic instead of the normal glass, which LG says gives the phone an “IMAX-like experience”. I have been to quite a few movies at the IMAX theater in Providence and even though I have never used the phone I can confidently say it won’t be anything like an IMAX theater. Going out on a limb with that statement, but I think I could be right.
As far as specs go you’re looking at basically a curved version of LG’s G2, which is a pretty sweet device. As of right now there is no release date, but if I had to guess you will be able to get this guy in your hands around mid November.
-MattyV
PS- I feel like if I put this phone in my pocket it will break. Just saying.
Tech Tuesday – Nokia Joins The Tablet Market
Some people call the Nokia 2520 the first Windows tablet, but I feel that distinction should go to the Surface RT. Even though the Nokia will run Windows 8 RT, I still feel the Surface is more a tablet than a full on laptop (although their commercials would like you to think differently).
So why get the Nokia 2520 over the Surface? Well, for one it is a lot thinner, coming in at just shy of 9mm. It comes with 32gb of internal storage with options for 32gb more via micro sd card slot. The 2520 is also sporting a 10.1″ 1080p displays that is protected by Gorilla Glass. You get a very “HTC One” like audio experience with it’s front facing speakers, and from reviews i’ve seen they sound pretty good. It is LTE compatible, so you need not worry about Wifi while on the go.
Who will buy the Nokia 2520? At $499 probably the same people who are buying the Surface RT and the people who have Windows smart phones. One of the big selling points, especially in the video above, is that it works pretty seamlessly with your other Nokia smart devices (smart phones specifically). This shows Windows finally catching up to the whole “ecosystem” approach to people’s personal tech. I think it’s still well behind iOS and Android, but it is finally making a push. Nokia makes some great hardware and Microsoft has designed a great looking mobile os. Now if they could only get more developers to want to spend time writing code for them!
-MattyV
PS- Microsoft and Nokia love those clip-on keyboards. Personally I think they are horrible to use.
Tech Tuesday: NVIDIA Shield
Not really new tech news, but something i want to share nonetheless. Made by the computer hardware company, NVIDIA, The Shield is, in short, a Android-based gaming machine, but in my eyes it is much more than that. Here is a machine that runs faster and has better graphics than most handheld devices on the market (all current smartphones included). Here are the specs.
- 72-CORE NVIDIA GeForce GPU
- Tegra 4 Mobile Processor: Quad-Core A15 CPU
- Console-Grade Game Controller: Ultimate control and precision
- WI-FI Connectivity: 802.11n 2×2 MIMO game-speed Wi-Fi
This is a beast of a machine that also includes mini HDMI out so you can plug it into a TV and game how you would with a normal game console (and get similar graphics). The controller is solid in your hand and doesn’t show signs of weakness. Android Jelly Bean paired with the Tegra 4 provides for silky smooth features with high frame rates. The front facing speakers will blow you away whether you are gaming, listening to music, or screening a flick off of Neflix.
Another great feature and use of the system is emulators. This means you can play all your console favorites from yesteryear on the shield. That is an AWESOME feature.
-MattyV
Review video from Austin Evans
SWEET SUGAR: The NFL and Google are About to Have a Love Child
In the least surprising news of the week, as DirecTV’s rights to the vaunted NFL Sunday Ticket package come close to their 2014 expiration date, rumors of who else may bid for them are starting and Google is right at the top. According toAllThingsD, league officials met with the internet giant today and among many topics, the package of rights to air all of the league’s games to out of market viewers came up. As suggested, the folks in Mountain View (and several other companies we can all think of) can certainly afford the reported $1 billion DirecTV has been paying — and YouTube has already shelled out to stream sports in the USand around the world — but whether or not the NFL would actually sell to them is still in question. -Engadget
From what I am reading on the matter, this is a bit of a long shot. It seems that the NFL will again renew its contract with the satellite company DirectTV in 2014. But imagine, just imagine, what watching the NFL would be like under Google’s control? I’m talking streaming from YouTube, tablets, smartphones, and any other device that can get its grubby little antenna on the internet. This would be a total game changer for the NFL and America. More people around the US would see the games they wanted to see, and for me that means watching my Bucs from RI! Like I said, don’t get your hopes up, because they are probably renewing with DirectTV, but you never know, Google has surprised us before.
-MattyV
Tech Tuesday – Elon Musk
When the California “high speed” rail was approved, I was quite disappointed, as I know many others were too. How could it be that the home of Silicon Valley and JPL – doing incredible things like indexing all the world’s knowledge and putting rovers on Mars – would build a bullet train that is both one of the most expensive per mile and one of the slowest in the world? Note, I am hedging my statement slightly by saying “one of”. The head of the California high speed rail project called me to complain that it wasn’t the very slowest bullet train nor the very most expensive per mile…
The Hyperloop (or something similar) is, in my opinion, the right solution for the specific case of high traffic city pairs that are less than about 1500 km or 900 miles apart. Around that inflection point, I suspect that supersonic air travel ends up being faster and cheaper. With a high enough altitude and the right geometry, the sonic boom noise on the ground would be no louder than current airliners, so that isn’t a showstopper. Also, a quiet supersonic plane immediately solves every long distance city pair without the need for a vast new worldwide infrastructure. – Elon Musk (Tesla Blog)
For those of you who do not know who Elon Musk is, he is one of the most forward thinking minds alive today. He founded the Space X program, and co-founded two small companies. You might know them, Tesla and PayPal. Elon, just 42 years old, isn’t finished innovating just yet. Take this next project that he explained in detail yesterday on his blog. The Hyperloop, which sounds like the most badass roller coaster ever, is essentially a high speed train that will be “much cheaper” than airfare. Also, according to Musk, more enjoyable. With less acceleration force than a subway car and smooth-as-silk travel; featuring no turbulence!
Musk’s Hyperloop blog post post comes in response to the 70 billion-dollar train system being constructed in California (set to be completed in 2029. Musk says “I was quite disappointed, as I know many others were too. How could it be that the home of Silicon Valley and JPL – doing incredible things like indexing all the world’s knowledge and putting rovers on Mars – would build a bullet train that is both one of the most expensive per mile and one of the slowest in the world?” His solution and counter argument to the high speed train? The Hyperloop.
-MattyV
PS- If the Hyperloop is included in Musk’s version of “the city-of-tomorrow”, what’s inlcuded in yours?
Here is a video featuring my favorite scientist, Bill Nye, to help get your mind going.
Tech Tuesday – Google Glass as a Tour Guide
The real potential of Google Glass involves making it possible to receive contextually relevant information on the go, without having to pull a phone out of a pocket or do much else to gather it. A new Kickstarter project from South African tourism software startup Tourism Radio makes perfect sense in that context, as it aims to liberate pocket guides from the pocket entirely with the help of Glass. -TechCrunch
Tourism Radio, a startup from South Africa, is already making splashes in Google Glass applications before Glass is even available worldwide. Their plan is to make Google Glass a virtual tour guide. The idea is for Glass to pull up relevant information as you travel through, in this case, Cape Town, South Africa. This idea brings exploring the world to a whole new level. Gone are the days of pocket maps and hard to understand tour guides. You want to get somewhere? Tell Glass. What building is that in front of you? Ask Glass. Hungry? Eat Glass…no, don’t eat Glass, please. Anyway, you get my point, no need for anything to get in the way of you and your experience of a new place. Not to mention Glass is now your camera to take stills as well as videos (with geo tagging), that way when you get home you can show family and friends what you did and where you did it.
I have been reading a lot about Google Glass over the past year and I have recently come to one conclusion. Google, you need to make an action version of Glass. I’m talking waterproof, shockproof, the whole shebang . That would be awesome.
If you would like to help this Kickstarter Project click here.
-MattyV
PS- Tourism Radio, If you need help programming the “Tour of North Providence” Google Glass app I can lend a hand. I figure once your done with the Cape Town app you would be working on the Rhode Island one next, right? I mean why not. Remember, we have T Swift now!
