This is cool... Looks practical, too.

Just too bad I don’t have a bicycle…

Click on the image for the video of the product Revolights...

(Note: Link to product’s website may not be working. Not sure what is going on there.)

See more progress on: get the latest gadgets whether they are practical or not

Here's an updated list of what will be hot and what will not.

Back 8 months ago, I thought it would be interesting for me to put forward my view of what would be hot and not. This is what I said at the time:

	e-book reader	While Amazon and Barnes & Noble have experienced good sales with their products this past year, NOOKColor is actually an Android tablet under the hood. They will be expanding upon the apps which can be loaded onto it. Similarly, there are rumors that Amazon is hiring developers to turn their ebook reader into a more robust device. Future tablets are going to be sleek, sexy, and light, so ebook readers will have lots of competition.
	DVD	Streaming is the way of the future.
	Newspapers, magazines	These are not gadgets but are being threatened by hi-tech. Some thought iPad would save them, but actually, sales are already down for these online magazines/newspapers.

8 months later, this article also mentions gadgets on the verge of extinction: http://gizmodo.com/5731594/12-technologies-on-the-verge-of-extinction

#1	Pre-recorded Physical Media (ie, such as DVDs)
#3	eBook readers

Anyway, for items to look for:

	3D	A lot of people don’t seem that excited about 3D yet, but it will be that you don’t have a digital camera anymore without 3D… Then a digital photo frame… Then digital video. Of course, support of these devices will grow when they eliminate the need for the 3D glasses, which will already make good progess these year (on smaller screens).
	Android	Android will be ubiquitous. Imagine your digital photo frame/digital clock device next to your bed waking you up gently with the song of your choice (or random song from your music library), automatically recording your slept debt, and announcing your schedule for the day. Then as you plop in front of the TV, you can use your Android phone as a remote… But wait, no need for a remote. Your GoogleTV device allows voice activation. You get a call on your home phone, but it is a known telemarketer. The app on your home phone automatically diverts the call where Google Voice plays the fake “You have reached a number which has been disconnected.” You receive another call, but you’re running late, so you don’t answer. Since the caller called your Google voice number, it is ringing your house phone and cell phone simultaneously. You still decide not to answer because you know you will get delayed. You get into your car where your built-in navigation device will tell you traffic delays as it gives you direction to the place you looked up in Google maps the night before on your computer. While driving, it reads aloud your phone messages. Much of this technology is already available on Android. It’s just a matter of making more devices which utilize Android technology.
	Phones which also serve as computers	Most people don’t need high-powered computers. Most of the use of their computers is for browsing, e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets, etc. Phones are getting more and more powerful. Soon, if you travel, you won’t need to take a notebook computer with you on business trips… Just your phone and a notebook docking station. This is similar to the Motorola Atrix showed at this year’s CES. See pics below. Unfortunately, I think Microsoft would be in the best position to implement this strategy, though.

From the back, you can see where the phone is inserted:

This is not unlike the IBM MetaPad concept from several years ago which was sort of like a small brick for the computer:

which could then be used with a small screen for a handheld computer:

or inserted into a notebook shell for a notebook computer:

or plugged into a desktop.

See more progress on: get the latest gadgets whether they are practical or not

Plans for Home Entertainment System

Family Room

Item	Target year	Comments
HD-TV	Long term	Currently have 42" plasma but not true HDTV
Closed caption	3+	Currently have CC device but it frequently causes TV picture to become distorted
HD-DVR	?	Currently using ReplayTV, no HD recording. DNNA introducing TV card with ReplayTV software
Archive	<1	Currently over 1 TB of storage but need device with fan. Stardom Sohotank is good candidate, available from PC Pitstop ($129). Update: Bought it and it failed after 1 year + 4 months. I have now replaced it with a Buffalo TeraStation Pro II.
Backup of archive	3+	No backup. Need at least interim backup in short term--Media room PC?
Central library	?	Will this end up being the same as the Archive? Currently using media room PC
Region-free DVD player / recorder	?	Currently would prefer not to support BluRay and HD-DVD
Internet radio	?	Should be part of whole house streaming strategy
Security camera	?	Should be visible as part of HTPC set up, should be expandable to support additional cameras
Home automation	?	Should be integrated as part of HTPC
Streaming	?	Should be integrated as part of HTPC. Should each room have a PC? If each room has PC, this can replace ReplayTV unit
Place-shifting	?	For outside of house, is Slingbox the answer. For inside the house, a video streaming router...?
Internet surfing	?	Should be supported by HTPC
Remote	1	Should be able to support ReplayTV, also use to navigate PC. Gyroscopic mouse would be most intuitive for navigating

Dreams for Home Entertainment System

For many of my goals, I’ll probably take the “Disney” approach, which is to:

1. Dream it
2. Plan it
3. Criticize it (ie, become more realistic about it)

So first, I have to dream it.

• Family room
  • HD-TV, ability to view from back porch
  • Closed caption, support realtime translation to other languages (in particular Japanese)
  • HD-DVR, ability to archive to PC
  • Archive (at least 1.6 TB)
  • Backup of archive (another 1.6 TB)
  • Central library for video, photo, music
  • Region-free DVD player/recorder
  • Internet radio
  • Security camera
  • Home automation
  • Video/photo/audio streaming to any room / outdoors, separate control panel in each room
  • Place-shifting (both inside of house and outside of house)
  • Internet surfing, weather
  • Remote control with display, also can be used for surfing
• Media room
  • HD Projector, 16×9 native mode
  • Closed caption
  • Approximately 120” screen
  • Surround-sound
  • Golf simulator :)
  • Remote control with display, also can be used for surfing
• Game room
  • ???
• Bedroom and other rooms
  • Access to central library for video, photo, music
  • Comfortable position for viewing from bed
  • Home automation / security camera
  • Internet surfing
• Outdoors
  • Projector for projecting “drive-in” movie on garage door
  • Closed caption
  • Appropriate screen for projector (sheet?)
  • Outdoor sound system (speakers which look like old-time drive-in speakers)

Took me a while to find the next "must have" item...

But here it is... Supposedly, it will help you find a golf ball in a 600 square foot area, potentially by being able to recognize the shape a dimple, I am guessing...

Now 600 square foot area is not THAT big of an area, but it would be useful especially if you are looking into the sun...

Of course, this gadget costs $260 which would actually pay for probably 3 years worth of golf balls, but hey, that's not the point!! (I forgot what is, though...)

Another "must have" item... This one for the car...

With so many "must have" items, I may have to cut back on some frivolous purchases, like food...

Anyway, a wheel which can show images with LED lights...

Click on above image for video. Worth checking out!

Collaborative calendars

Not only are there calendars available online to manage your schedule, but in these days of collaboration, calendars are also designed to not only manage your calendar, but in conjunction with others.

Calendar	Pros	Cons	URL
Airset	Can sync with phones Drag and drop Click on date for adding new event Very intuitive way of collaboration Maximum flexibility in sharing events Search capability	Little bit slow Cannot customize look Color-coding fixed by calendar	www.airset.com www.airset.com/User/Cal.jsp?gi=YdJCMGlxLgcP&all=0
30boxes	Click on date for adding new event Tag and search capability Ability to highlight selected tags Ability to "publish" calendar Supports "badges"	Only 3 themes for customizing look No drag and drop Events can only be marked private or not private Does not show time of event directly on calendar URL for published calendar contains my full name (privacy concern) Code for "badge" contains my full name	www.30boxes.com http://30boxes.com/public/43896/full-name/2f7c8e146737efcd64cc9e3c7c77e5df/0/
Planzo	Direct typing in calendar for new events Drag and drop Search capability	Some customization available but limited to approximately 8 color selections Color-coded events seem fixed per type of event Privacy limited to private, none (share with all), or with "favorites".	www.planzo.com xxxxxx.planzo.com
CalendarHub	Drag and drop Supports "badges" Tag and search capability Ability to "publish" calendar	Cannot click date or directly type for new entry Privacy limited to private, none (share with all) or with "favorites". Columns in calendar representing the days of week are not equally spaced. Aesthetically, it looks odd. No color-coding of events	www.calendarhub.com www.calendarhub.com/calendar/55776/month www.calendarhub.com/pub/xxxxxx
Trumba	Ability to "publish" calendar Click on date for adding new event	For free version, no customization for look and feel (except for primary color) Sharing limited to all (for those authorized) or none No color-coding of events No drag or drop No search capability	www.trumba.com www.trumba.com/t.aspx?e=CgAzdYV*VrG1eOBPBtwQYIzsehUA13kn5-S*H7VK2*CVig!!X www.trumba.com/calendars/xxxxxxs_calendar
Goowy		Problems when adding full-day events (says end time cannot be before start time) Selection of date is not used as default when adding new calendar event
Mosuki	Can define specific groups for viewing events Search capability	No customization for look and feel No color-coding of events No drag and drop Limited view of event description in calendar
Kiko	Drag and drop Color-coding of events (16 colors)	Sharing limited to all, contacts, or none No customization for look and feel No search	www.kiko.com www.kiko.com/appt/application?user_id=2580

Another "must have" item...

Keeping in mind that "must" is a relative term...

The "intelligent" table... Actually, not exactly what I am looking for... I would prefer simply a computer monitor with the computer built into the table. Considering they are now making Windows MCE-enabled TVs, I am sure tables are not too far behind. I appreciate the concept that the data would be presented appropriately to the viewer, depending on where the viewer is sitting. Perhaps this can be done by determining where the mouse/keyboard are.



The "intelligent" wall is also a must have item.


I wonder if Santa Claus will think I've been good this year. I wonder if I can get a discount from our partnership with Panasonic?

More storage...

It would also be useful to have a USB flash memory storage device to carry around from computer to computer. It would be especially nice if plugging in the device would allow personalized settings to be on the USB flash drive too, so that just plugging it in will basically turn that computer into your own personalized computer. (On a side note, it would be good to have one which can be used to boot up Linux. And finally, it would be nice to have a USB flash drive for storing music which can be played on our FM modulator/transmitter.)

The best candidate at the moment is the Sandisk Titanium model for its durability. It comes in a 2GB model for a reasonable price. However, it would also be great if I could get one with 4GB, 8GB or even more...

• Notes storage is currently 7GB.
• My Documents storage (including Notes) is currently 20GB.
• Documents and Settings for my Windows login is 23GB.

L170 supports 1280 x 1024 or not...

I've moved the desktop which was in the study to upstairs, so that Kyoko can use her ThinkPad in the study with her new desk. I kept the old monitor in the study, and when I moved the computer upstairs, I hooked it up with a different monitor, the ThinkVision L170.

It's supposed to support 1280 x 1024 and from what I can tell when booting up Windows, Windows seems to recognize 1280 x 1024. However, the Intel graphics card seems to think that monitor can only support 1024 x 768. Therefore, when trying to configure 1280 x 1024, it then requires me to scroll the screen in order to see 1280 x 1024.

Baffling..! Aggravating!