Society

Best Of The Next

The ultimate set of wheels, a car that flies, an oven that lets you cook over the net, a mobile that doubles up as an all-purpose remote. Looking to the future? A dream shopping list.

Advertisement

Best Of The Next
info_icon
HD DVD & BLU RAY
info_icon

DVD hasn’t stabilised yet but two newer technologies are fighting to take centrestage. These are High Definition DVD (HD DVD) and Blu Ray. HD DVD is backed by Toshiba, NEC, Sanyo, Memory-Tech and Microsoft, while Blu Ray has behind it stalwarts like Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, LG, Panasonic, Philips, and so on. HD DVDs have a much higher capacity and spread compared to current DVDs, but would initially cost only 10 per cent more. But technologically, the biggest edge Blu Ray appears to have over HD DVD is that it offers 30 per cent more capacity and is designed for recording high-def video. The disadvantage: you cannot play the DVDs you’ve already bought to stock up your home library.

Advertisement

World Wind Phone

info_icon

All you GSM and CDMA fanatics, bury the hatchet. Handset manufacturers are working to merge the technologies into one handset so that users can easily switch between networks (and technologies) at the press of a key. The ‘World Wind’ handset has the best of both worlds and can receive signals from both. Samsung showcased this great device inShanghai last October, which bridges the gap between the two warring factions. Motorola and LG are also ready with their offerings. Soon, other manufacturers will load the market with handsets that will help you pack all your telecommunication needs into one gadget and save you the trouble of carrying two phones. Still, perils exist—like if you are hiding callers from the wife.

Advertisement

Internet Cooking

info_icon

No more worries over whether you left the oven on or not. Or for that matter doing the cooking grind after a hard day’s work. New technologies allow you to cook even as you are taking the long drive back home. Enter Intelligent Ovens, which can run on Microsoft’s .Net platform, and help you connect to your kitchen remotely through a computer, cell phone or PDA. Samsung has already showcased a tablet PC-like console which extends you the luxury of moving in and around the house while monitoring what’s cooking in the kitchen. So if the french fries look a little too brown, well, switch off the oven right from your backyard.

Universal Mobile Remote

info_icon

Universal remotes have been around for a couple of years, but to have the option in a mobile phone can be quite athing. While Harmony and now Logitech have been making universal remotes—one remote for all gadgets like TV,DVD, music system and even the AC—leading mobile manufacturers like Nokia are now looking to merge this function into the handset. So now the phone—already taking pictures, sending email and fax and playing music—will have an enhanced functionality shoved into it. It’s of course great to have the all-in-one-remote option but once it gets into your mobile, you may need to keep another one handy for when you go out.

Advertisement

Organic Display

info_icon

LCD is passé, plasma is big. But the future in digital picture viewing is ‘Organic’ display. Companies like Toshiba, Canon are cooking up thinner and lighter flat panels based on Surface Conduction Electron-Emitter Display (SED) technology. It shoots electrons through thousands of nanometers-wide slits onto a phosphor-coated screen, blending the best of traditional CRTs and LCDs. SEDs draw far less power and don’t need backlights like LCD, so costs are much lower.Now, Organic Light Emitting Diode/Display (OLED) is hot.It’S thinner and flexible, adjusting to changes in light and colour output more quickly, producing extremely colouraccurate sharp

Skycar

Advertisement

info_icon

Is it a car, is it a plane? The Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show recently showcased the four-passenger SkyCar M200 M, made by Moller International. Dr Paul Moller has spent 30 years and $200 million creating a reliable Skycar. The car (or plane?) is powered electronically when driven in car mode and can do around 35 mph. Once airborne, itmay fly faster than 350 mph at altitudes up to 25,000 feet and can take off vertically. So far, the SkyCar has had a couple of dozen test flights, always tethered, none very high, none for more than a minute, under strict FAA rules—but it flew successfully. First models come with a $1 million price tag.

Advertisement

The Media Centre PC

info_icon

Companies across computerland are vying to convince users the world over that the PC can do much more than just, well, PCwork. The new Media Center concept has caught on with both established players as well as new kids on the block. Microsoft is promoting its Windows XP Media Center version which enables users to have a rich entertainment experience on the PC (it even has a remote to flip TV channels). Others like Sony, Samsung and Intel are preparing products that subscribe to the one-box-does-it-all theory. So your PC (or whatever it looks like and is called), would soon replace yourTV, music system, gaming device and all other gadgets in your house. But then Windows does hang, doesn’t it? If that happens....

Tags

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement