Asus Eee Slate EP121

The new Asus tablet was introduced at the CES Convention in Las Vegas. The new tablet is a direct competitor to Apple's iPad Tablet. Want a slate that's really designed for the way you use a computer while you're on the go? Check out the ASUS Eee Slate. No matter where you are, it'll keep you connected, entertained, and productive. The 12.1-inch backlit HD display is larger than most netbook screens, and with its wide, 175-degree viewing angle, you'll easily be able to share photos and video with your friends. 

One of its best features is that it's got full Flash 10.1 support—so you can watch YouTube videos, videos embedded in Facebook, and all the other rich content across the web that requires Flash. 

Part of why it looks so great is the display's ultra-tough yet ultra-thin Gorilla Glass, which protects it from the rough treatment that mobile devices can get—drops and spills. But the glass is also pressure-sensitive, making its digitizer with Windows 7 pen support more accurate for drawing and note-taking. 

Its solid-state drive keeps the size and weight down—and also means there's no disc spinning inside, giving you lightning-fast access to your files when you want them. And it's not just for entertainment. It comes with a Bluetooth wireless keyboard, and a stand that lets you set it up like a monitor, so you can really use it like a PC when you need to. No matter whether you're working or playing, you're going to love using this versatile slate. 

12.1-inch capacitive pressure-sensing multi-touch LED-backlit HD display delivers brilliant HD entertainment and intuitive navigation Less than one inch thick and made with ultra-tough Gorilla Glass to ensure easy portability and robust durability. 

For what this computer offers I think the price is spot on despite being at least $1,000. 

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If Only You Could XC Ski Without All the Work

Have you ever wanted to go cross country skiing but were too lazy to move your feet back and forth? Well now you can with the Skizee, a machine powered by a 10.5 horsepower engine built to propel you through snow, that is, if you’re on skis. More resembling the back treads of a snowmobile, the Skizee looks adept at propelling you on a flat snow surface, however as the video shows, it might not be that good at uphill travel. And at a $2500 price tag, you might be better off buying a snowmobile. 

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Super Helicopters!?!?!?

Helicopters are one of the most versatile means of transportation out there, they can vertically take off and land in tough to reach places, they can hover, fly backwards and lift tremendous weights but there has always been one drawback. They are very slow compared to planes. Of course you are probably thinking “Just stick a bigger engine on it!” but unfortunately that won’t work. Due to the nature of helicopters and their spinning rotors, when exceeding 170 knots or 196 mph, they tend to vibrate so violently that pilots wouldn’t be able to read instrument panels and equipment would be knocked loose. Now a new breed of helicopters are being built which can not only get past the current 196mph barrier but shatter it, by going over 288 mph. This is over twice the normal speed for a helicopter today. How does it accomplish this feat? Read on and find out!

Two companies are in the final stages of development of these super helicopters, Sikorsky and Eurocopter. The first thing you will notice when you see the Sikorsky X2 is that it has two rotors on top instead of the traditional one. This was possible because in a typical helicopter, one side of the rotor generates more thrust than the other so it shakes. In the X2 each of the four blade rotors generates thrust on opposite sides balancing each other out. This enabled the designers to use rigid, flat blades as opposed to hinged blades. The other visible difference is that rather than having its rear rotor sideways just to help stabilize the aircraft, the rear propeller on the X2 faces backwards. This means that the X2 can generate huge amounts of thrust without having to spin as fast making it more stable. In addition to this, to make the aircraft more stable, the X2 has sensors that are installed all over the aircraft to measure vibrations. These sensors are connected to force generators that will counteract any vibrations caused by high speeds. The X2 also has an extensive computer system that makes it extremely easy to fly leaving the pilot to focus his efforts on other tasks such as looking for survivors during a disaster.

Eurocopter has decided to take a different approach to the problem. Rather than having dual main rotors like the X2, their new aircraft dubbed the X3, will feature a pair of wing mounted rotors very similar to an airplane. The X3 is technically a “hybrid” aircraft because when it is traveling at high speeds it generates almost 40 percent of its life from its wings. The X3 will be the cheaper of between the two because everything from the main gearbox, to the propellers to the body all comes from other Eurocopter models in production right now. It is estimated to cost around $13 million whereas the X2 is estimated to be around $50 million.

Both of these seem like good ideas and hopefully they come into production for the general public soon so that we normal citizens can see them! And hopefully this creates some competition between the two companies to produce newer and better planes in the future!

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Piezoelectrics. The tongue twister that may save the planet!

Most of us are looking towards solar and wind power as the best way to harvest reusable energy in order to save the planet but there is another contender in this race that many people may not know about. Piezoelectricity is where certain substances such as quartz and crystal generate electric charges when put under stress such as vibrations. This technology has been used for years and years in things such as watches and microphones but people are starting to finally notice the green implications of piezoelectricity and using it to create self sustaining buildings.        

Many of you may have heard of Club Watt which was a dance club in Rotterdam, Netherlands that uses piezoelectric dance floors so that the dancers literally powers the club as they dance. This is a big step because Rotterdam is known as the electronic music capital of Europe so once entrepreneurs see how popular green dance clubs are they will start appearing all over the place.

After the craze of Club Watt, many new implementations piezoelectric technology has appeared. Japan has installed this technology into the floors of one of their railways stations and they manage to generate over 1400 kilowatts of electricity per day! That’s enough to power all their ticket booths and information screens. Toulouse, France became the first city to put the piezoelectric technology in their sidewalks. They manage to generate enough energy to power all their streetlamps along the sidewalk. And the United Kingdom plans to install power-generating tiles on London streets to light up bus stops and pedestrian crossings.

To make piezoelectric more accessible, Elizabeth Redmond has started a company called POWERleap which specializes in creating piezoelectric surfaces. At the moment the company is still finalizing its business plans but soon they will be able to start making sidewalks and floors for whoever wants them. Another company called Innowattech has started installing strips of asphalt embedded with piezoelectric materials. According to the company, the generators could produce 1 MWh of electricity from a four lane highway, or enough to power 2,500 homes.

As with any technology, it is being constantly improved on and this is no exception. Princeton University recently created a new type of piezoelectric material called PZT. It is made up of silicone and nanoribbons of lead zirconate titanate and is essentially an ultra-efficient piezoelectric substance. IT can convert about 80% of the mechanical input it is fed to electricity which is almost 100 times more efficient than quartz. Because it is so efficient it can harness energy from even the smallest vibrations including the vibrations that reach your shirt as you move or walk. This means that due to the fact that piezoelectric technology is so versatile it could potentially be sewn in with your shirt. So by the end of the day enough charge would have built up to charge your phone, iPod or other device.

Unfortunately piezoelectric technology still hasn’t really kicked off but I believe that once people realize how many places it could be implemented such as subways stations, tourist spots and dance clubs, it will be apparent how easy it will be to become green.

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The Tesla Model S Alpha

To anyone who thought electric cars couldn’t be beautiful, you’ve obviously never seen the Tesla Model S. Just recently unveiled at CES, the Alpha version of the Model S is downright sexy. Be sure to check out the video below to see it take up some turns. And no, you haven’t gone deaf, it’s just that quiet.

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4 Cores in Smart Phones!?

With smart phones having more and more technology crammed into them all the while getting smaller and smaller, the questions of are the current processors powerful enough to handle all of the tech, is a pretty important question. But no need to fear, Nvidia has come to the rescue with their plan for their “Tegra” chip series. Just a few weeks ago at CES the Motorola Atrix was announced which contained Nvidia’s Tegra 2 processer that made it the first phone with a dual core processor. This helped it to win its title as one of the Best of CES and multiple other rewards. Apparently this was not enough for Nvidia so they have released a schedule for 2 more chips, the Tegra 2 3D and the Tegra 3. As the name suggests, the Tegra 2 3D supports 3D playback and it has a maximum speed of 1.2 GHz. The Tegra 3 on the other hand is set to be the world’s first smart phone processor that has four cores and it is set to be released this fall!! With Processors like these smart phone makers and consumers will never have to worry again about their phone being to slow!

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Is the iPad Worth it?

Many of us know the apple iPad as a remarkable new device that really changed the gadget world. However, there are many arguments presented on why not to get an iPad. First, the iPad doesn’t have flash, which many of its competitors such as the Samsung galaxy tab have. The second argument is that the iPad does not feature any cameras like the Samsung galaxy tab. The Samsung galaxy tab has two cameras, the front facing camera and the rear facing camera. With the galaxy tab, you can video chat virtually anywhere if you have a contract with one the carriers. In many peoples opinion however, the iPad is still better. I agree with this point of view. Having had an iPad and seeing how it feels like to use compared to a Samsung galaxy tab makes me realize how much more fun and easier the iPad is to use than the Samsung galaxy tab. The Samsung galaxy tab is simply very dull and boring, it’s too small and yet thicker than the iPad, making it feel weird when you hold it in your hands. The iPad is a really intuitive device. You feel like you’re using something when you’re on the iPad. Even though it may lack some features, the iPad is the ultimate superior tablet. You simply forget about the fact that it’s missing some features compared to competitors. When you have an iPad, you will always find an excuse to use it. It is a blast to work on and play with, with the Samsung galaxy tab really lacks.

  

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Which Android Should You Get?

So you’ve finally decided to get an Android phone. But which model spread across the various manufactures should you get? Well here’s a guide to help to you find the best the Android phone that matches your needs.

Note: Since there are a lot of Android powered phones across many carriers and manufacturers, there will be Androids phones coming out all the time. So if you do decide to get an Android be aware that you might be envious of new phones that are released after you buy.

Shopping Tips:

Be sure that you know what’s going to be coming up in the near future. As with all technology, there will always be something new and better; this is a fact. However, if there’s something big coming up, like 4G/LTE support, it’s definitely worth waiting a couple weeks or so to take advantage of the new tech. Also, it’s a good idea to wait a little bit to buy a newly released phone. First hands-on’s and specs can only tell you so much about a phone. It’s good to see what others have to say about them and about potential unseen downfalls of the device.

Looking For the Features That You Want

Factory installed Software Version:

Android OS is probably one of the fastest at updating their software out of others on the market. In fact, their already developing Android 2.4 even before 2.3 is full released. So when you’re out looking for phones, be sure that it comes loaded with the latest version of Android OS (as of publishing this article, it would by 2.2 Froyo as Gingerbread isn’t on most phones right now). You should also make sure that whichever manufacture you choose (HTC, Motorola, Samsung, Dell, LG, and Sony) that you choose one that actually update your phones to the next OS version. So far about 50% of HTC phones have been eligible to be upgraded to Froyo in 2010 with Motorola behind with 15% and Samsung with 11%.

Processor:

Recently, there’s been a lot of talk about what kind of the processors are going into these mobile devices and a lot of confusing jargon and code names that come along with them. But here’s all you need to know: the processor isn’t going to do that much to influence how your Android phone performs. The bottom line is that you shouldn’t be basing your purchase off which type of processor is built in to your phone. Lately, manufactures have been really competitive over processors so there’s not going to much variation on types or speeds of phone processors. In addition, performance of the Android OS is a lot more reliant on the software rather than the hardware so a phone that gets updates more often might be faster than a phone who, on paper, is supposed to run faster.

However if you are some who needs a powerful chip in their phone, e.g. 3D gaming or video editing, you should probably look for a phones that has at least a 1Ghz processor or even dual core. But if you’re not in this category of users, don’t automatically assume that “higher is better”. Because when it comes down to it, switch from app to app will be more influenced by what type of UI (or custom UI, more on this further down) you’re using rather than the type of processor.

Manufacturer UI

The three major manufacturers of Android phones (HTC, Mototrola, and Samsung) have all added their own user interfaces onto their phones; HTC’s Sense, Motorola’s MotoBlur, and Samsung’s TouchWiz. While none of the three are “better” than one another, some people prefer certain UI’s over each other as they have a different feel to them. For example, HTC sense (pictured middle) allows you to have various widgets on the home screen such as the current weather.

Camera:

Obviously if you know you’re going to be taking a lot of pictures with your phone, it would be a good idea to make sure the Android you pick has a good camera. Camera specs can only tell you so much as megapixels only tell how large the pictures will be, not how nice they’ll look even though they seem like the same thing. So if you’re in between a 5MP and an 8MP phone, don’t automatically choose the 8MP. The best way to see which is better is to do a hands-on yourself at your local carrier store. Another option is to use Flickr’s Camera Finder page. There you can view picture taken on certain device whether they be the HTC Incredible or Droid X. Also gaining popularity are models with front facing cameras (cough*iPhone’s fault*cough). I mean there’s no downside to having a front facing camera right?

Battery Life:

Probably one of the biggest grievances of smartphones these days are low battery lives. What use is a smartphone that can play millions of games, tell you the weather, and cook you breakfast if it only holds a charge for an hour? (OK maybe that phone would be worth it) Probably the best way to tell how long the battery will last is from reviewers who’ve gotten their hands on the phone already as battery capacity can only tell you so much.

Screen Type:

Not content with having a large screen, many manufactures have their own special screens that claim to perform better than others. While Samsung’s AMOLED screen, Sony’s Super LCD, and Motorola’s qHD screen look great they really beat down on battery life. In the spirit of competition almost all phones have these specialized screens so battery drainage is pretty universal. That being said screen type is something that isn’t that much of an issue.

Hardware Features:

As with almost every other product, manufacturers will include unique features such as front-facing cameras, kick stands, “full” speakers to make their phone stand out from the others. It’s up to you to decide which of these features you want and which you could live without. For example, it’s never a bad idea to have HDMI out if you had the choice between one that didn’t right.

Rootability:

While some Androids are easier to root than others, virtually all phones are hackable. “Unhackable” phones like the Droid X and G2 have been rooted by teams such as XDA. So by the time you’ve bought your phone, it’s likely that some has already hacked it and is writing tutorial on how to do it.

References:

Above, there’s a chart that does a good comparison between top Androids that are looking to be released soon. In addition here’s a nice graphic that compares the Motorola Droid Bionic, the Apple iPhone 4 and the HTC Thunderbolt if you were between those devices.

P.S. Droid Bionic is the best.

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The All New Sony TX100V with Anti-Blink

Anti-Blink Feature
Many new cameras introduced at the CES 2011 include an anti blink feature. The anti blink feature is a button, that when you press it, the camera will take to photos and publish the one with the least blinking and squinting. One really nice camera that has that select features is the Sony TX100V. It's amazing how far technology has gotten these days. The Sony TX100V offers a selection of new features including a 3.5 inch OLED touch screen, 1080/60p movies, 16.2-megapixel "Exmor R" CMOS sensor, iSweep Panorama, 3D still image and 3D Sweep Panorama, Backlight Correction, Backlight Defocus. The Sony TX100V will be in stores in March of 2011.





TRYX STYLE

Exhibiting a revolutionary design, the TRYX can turn, twist, hang and stand to get shots you never believe from angles you never thought possible. The 12 megapixel TRYX is equipped with Casio's new Exilim Engine HS and features an ultra-bright 3" touch screen LCD, High-Speed CS technology, High-Speed Super Resolution Zoom and HDR-Art imaging.

HIGH-SPEED SR ZOOM
Super Resolution technology enhances optical zoom by up to 2 times while maintaining clarity and image quality High-Speed Super Resolution Zoom, enables clear multiple-magnification zoom without the need for an optical zoom. Powered by the Exilim Engine HS, CS technology instantly captures a burst of images, and then combination technology is used for precise analysis and positioning of each frame to piece together a clear, detailed, final image.

HIGH-DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR) TECHNOLOGY
Producing the perfect shot HDR (High-Dynamic Range) harnesses the High-Speed CS and high-speed large-volume image data processing capabilities of the new Exilim Engine HS to create a totally new type of digital imaging. The process combines information from a burst of multiple images and unites the most detailed portions of each image (taken at different exposures) for a beautiful, never-before-possible wide dynamic range.


HDR-ART
A new take on photographic expression Casio's exclusive HDR-Art creates a totally new artistic approach to photography that combines a burst of CS images recorded at the touch of the shutter button. The camera automatically processes the images, slightly adjusting the relative strength of contrast in local areas. The resulting image achieves a level of expression that normally cannot be realized without mounting the camera on a tripod, shooting a series of images with different exposures, and then processing the images on a computer.

SLIDE PANORAMA 
Makes it easy to take panoramic images if you want to capture the bigger picture, the Slide Panorama feature gives you extremely wide panorama images with a huge field of vision of up to 360 degrees, simply by panning the camera across the scene with the shutter button pressed, Slide Panorama makes it easy to take panoramic images.

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Verizon Preparing for the iPhone

Well as we all know big red has announced the iPhone 4 on their network and plan on releasing it February 10th and will be available for pre-order February 3rd. They have had to put in new policies just before the iPhones come in to insure maximum profit. The old early upgrade policy that would allow you to upgrade in 13 months for a 2 year upgrade is now not available and switched to 20 month minimum. One other specific policy put in place, or essentially taken out, was when an account holder waits 2 years they get $50 promotional credit. For those that already signed a contract before January 16th it will still be available. They are doing this so one could not buy an iPhone for only $149.99. Apple probably made them do this so they don't lose money and after all Verizon won't lose money. Verizon has also setup a pre-order system on their website and Verizon customers will have the first crack at getting the iPhone.

We are also waiting to get details on how the pricing on he mobile hotspot will be. Most believe it will be tiered and a 5GB maximum with $10 a GB overage charge. The most important pricing we have to see is whether the iPhone will receive the $30 unlimited data plan. I believe if it does that will add insult to injury to AT&T because they do not provide unlimited data plans. Verizon also has a $15 150 MB that would suit some people if they did not desire unlimited data for $30.

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How to Beat Retail Prices

In this economy people will try anything to penny pinch and save money. There are many ways of doing this but I can show you one of the best ways to save money on tech products. Well first of all, if you have a cell phone made past somewhere in 2009 you will have a universal mini-usb jack to charge and connect your phone. This is really helpful because it has allowed for people to make cheaper chargers and car chargers. So how does this help you? Well now if you need to charge your phone somewhere else it is likely someone else will have the charger you need. The car chargers are where you can save the real money. With most smart phones today you receive a wall usb port and the usb wire. So you need a car charger.....then you go to your nearest phone service store and buy one for $29.99. That is where you just lost money they have the same tool for cars as they do for the wall and you can find it very cheap on Amazon. Some have 2 ports and some even 4. That could accommodate the whole family. The most you would pay is 15 bucks which sure as hell beats $30.  

These will charge any device that can be charged through usb (mostly everything in this day’s age). Just by doing this you'll save up to $100 on car chargers. Back to how I was talking about how the cell phone industry has universalized the phone ports. This is for the MOST part true. Of course Apple has to feel special and make theirs different, and they do not supply a wall usb port. So what do you do? Go to Apple.com and buy one for $29.99? NO! You go to Amazon and buy a bundle that has a usb cable wall usb and a car usb ports, AND headphones all for how much? Maybe like 40 bucks....NO! Again you will only pay up to 15 bucks for all of this great merchandise. The sad thing is that is one half of the apple price for just the wall port. So next time you need to buy anything always check online before going out and buying something for triple the price and just paying for the name. 

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A Hummer is more environmentally friendly than a Prius!?!

When you ask most people what the most environmentally friendly car is, most will reply the Toyota Prius. It is widely known as the flagship of all hybrid cars as it has the most sales and it gets a ridiculous 51/48 MPG!! The government also gives you incentive to buy a Prius over…a Hummer for example through cash back and use of carpool lanes in larger cities. But is a Prius really that environmentally friendly?

The problem with the way most people compare how green a car is, is by comparing their MPGs and CO₂ output. If this was all that mattered then hybrids would kick normal cars’ butts but unfortunately this is not the case. What most people tend to forget is the environmental impact that the actual manufacturing of the car is, specifically the manufacturing and disposing of hybrids’ batteries. The nickel batteries that hybrids use are not environmentally friendly at all. The nickel for the Prius is produced in Sudbury, Ontario. This plant has caused so much environmental damage to the surrounding environment that NASA has used the 'dead zone' around the plant to test moon rovers. All around the plant, there is no life for miles. But the environment killing doesn’t end here, there are still many steps in the process that occur all over the world. The nickel from Canada is sent off to a refinery plant in Europe and then to China and the battery ends up in finished form in Japan. There it is placed in whatever car it was made for and shipped all over the world to the car dealerships.

Quoting The Recorder Online, “researchers discovered that the Prius costs and average of $3.25 per mile driven over a lifetime of 100,000 miles (the expected lifespan of a hybrid). On the other hand the Hummer costs $1.95 per mile over an expected 300,000 miles. This means that the Hummer will last three times as long and use less energy than the Prius.”

In addition, when the hybrid vehicle has reached the end of its lifespan it cannot just be taken to the junkyard and be crushed because its batteries are highly toxic and must be disposed of in the proper way….Unfortunately we don’t know what the proper way is...Hybrid vehicles have not been around long enough to know what happens when they are just left to sit in a landfill. So there could be extremely adverse environmental implications to driving a hybrid.

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Uno: The Amazing Transforming Bike

Meet BPG Motors’ Uno. A cross between a Segway and a tricycle, scooter, 3-wheeled thingy, this is probably the coolest vehicle at CES this year.

It’s had a bit of makeover since its last debut – an extra wheel to be specific. The idea is that if you want to go faster than 30 mph the front wheel folds out (all while moving) and you get some extra speed. Hopefully the Uno will be out in time for some summer cruising.

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Invisible Tanks

You’re a soldier guarding a secure military outpost out in the desert. Off in the distance you hear a small rumbling but you decide to ignore it against your better judgment. Suddenly dozens of tanks materialize in front of you.

At least that’s what the guys at BAE systems are hoping will happen. This isn’t the first crazy concept that the British company has come up with as they also designed non-lethal laser systems, swarms of military bugs and a plane with a freaking balcony. BAE has developed a an active camouflage system that uses e-ink (yes, the same kind of thing they use with e-readers) to mimic the vehicle’s surrounding, making it near invisible.


The “e-camouflage” system works by using multiple electronic sensors, mostly likely small cameras, which are located on the tank’s exterior to display what would be behind the tank, be it a sand dunes or far away mountains. In addition, since the camouflage is an active system, the e-ink would change in real time allowing the tank to be “invisible” while moving. This could also allow vehicles to move across various type of terrain in addition to different climates as opposed to current painted on camouflage. With painted on camouflage, vehicles would have to be repainted when moving to a different locale.


Even though the current design is merely a concept, BAE is sure that they can make the technology work in time to help British troops in Afghanistan. In addition, one of the reasons why the design was made was because troops in the Helmand province of Afghanistan were having difficulties camouflaging there equipment. Vehicles that were originally with a desert scheme could be easily spotted when moving to the more green areas of the region. With the adaptive camouflaging, tanks and other vehicles would always adapt to their surrounding environment.


However I see one problem with the concept, and it’s that the vehicle being disguised would only be “invisible” if an observer was only look at the vehicle from one direction. Otherwise it would appear that the background will have moved and wouldn’t be that effective.


But in its defense, the system wouldn’t be meant for close range (anything closer than a half a mile) or literally sneaking up on the enemy. There would be other telltale clues that there are tanks nearby such as the noise as tanks are extremely loud. However, it would be ideal if the tanks were coming from a distance where one couldn’t easily distinguish that the camouflage wouldn’t look exactly perfect.

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Device that tells you when you are about to fall asleep!

Do you live in a big city and find yourself driving a lot or just happen to travel a lot for fun? Well someone has finally decided to make a small peripheral that measures drowsiness to alert people before they fall asleep at the wheel. Some Danish Engineers have made a little hockey puck shaped device that is called the Anti-Sleep Pilot. 

This device monitors inputs from 26 different sensors in addition to its accelerometer to measure movement. Using all this data the Anti-Sleep Pilot determines if your driving style matches someone who is fatigued or drowsy. If it comes to this conclusion, it will flash and beep at you until you stop and rest for a minimum of 10 minutes. Of course if you are wealthy then you can just buy a Mercedes which have had drowsiness sensors in them for a couple years now.

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Will iPads Replace Our Dashboards?!

You guys may remember earlier when I went on a wild rant about how ridiculous the idea of iPad docks built into the back seat of BMWs was but it seems that I have found another ridiculous use for tablets in cars. Unlike the rest of iPad integrations I which they are usually stuck on to the back of the front seats headrests so that the back seat passengers can have their iPad at eye level, Visteon, the company behind this idea, has decided to use the iPad as a replacement for all of the buttons and gizmos where the controls for the air conditioning and the stereo might be in a normal car. Not just the media components but everything from the climate controls to seat adjustments. What!? That sounds like the dumbest idea on the planet!

Sure, if it was just being used as a giant screen instead of the usually scrawny screens that are built into cars that would be okay but taking away all physical knobs and buttons is just plain stupid. I could even live with all the media and navigation stuff on the iPad as long as they left the climate controls as physical buttons. There is a reason why every car maker in the world leaves certain things such as the climate control out of their navigation/ multimedia screen thing. When you are driving it is extremely distracting to have to look the screen and touch the screen or use whatever form of input it uses just to do a simple task such as turning up the heat. Most of us know exactly where the knob to change the heat is and at most, just need a quick glance. The same arguments go for the seat adjustment buttons. There have been plenty of times when I have had to change my seat settings while I was moving because I had just switched drivers.

What happens if let’s say…on your walk out to your car in the middle of winter you slipped and fell on some ice and  dropped your iPad??? Hmmm I guess you will just have to drive home without any heating because your iPad controls your heating!! The possibilities in which you could break or loose or forget your iPad are endless and if any of those happens you will be, to phrase it lightly, screwed.

Rather than relying on the dock to communicate with the car, the iPad wireless connects to the car and uses the dock just to charge itself. This is one of the few features I find pretty cool about this device because people in the back seats can pick what songs they want and browse the web on it. Hopefully Visteon has made sure their wireless transmissions between the car and the iPad are secure because they are not as secure as you may think. Professor Srdjan Capkun of ETH Zurich has proven that it is extremely easy to copy the signals given off by keyless start keys and then use antennas to broadcast it and unlock and start the car. So a thief could easily drive off with your car which is extremely worrying because a thief would be able to hack into the iPad and access what websites you have been visiting, where your home is via the navigation system, etc.

Besides the fact that it could get hacked, there are other reasons why it being wireless could create problems. If your kids or an immature friend got his hands on it while you were driving it could turn out to be a very long uncomfortable ride. For example they could move your seat to an uncomfortable position or turn your seat-heater on in the middle of the summer. Personally I would never take the iPad out of its dock in fear of such instances.

In the Tesla S, rather than using an external tablet to replace all the controls, they have just placed a massive 17 inch touch screen in the car. I admit, it looks stunning, but I still hold my stance that at least for the climate controls there needs to be physical buttons.

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How the Kindle is Winning the Hearts of Many

The amazon kindle has been one of the most succeful products amazon has ever had. They claim to have sold millions. This revoulutionary product allows you to read on a screen made up of E-ink. This is important because other E-readers like the iPad have a back light like a computer and it hurts peoples eyes if they read it for too long. With the kindle it is like reading a book with the capability of turning pages and browsing the web all without compromising you eyes comfort. The kindle comes in two versions, one with unlimited 3g and a WiFi only version. It is a $50 difference between the two and I honestly think that the 3G version is worth it because you will receive unlimited 3G from AT&T for life. When searching the web though the only thing available is text based. The device is here to stay in the homes of America for years to come.

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Should You Get The Verizon iPhone?

January 11^th will be forever known as the day the iPhone came to Verizon. With the AT & T reputation solidified as the carrier with the most drop calls, it seemed like the only reason people were on AT & T was because they had the iPhone; the holy grail of smartphones. Well now it had finally happened, and after all the dust settles from the massive hype of the release you ask yourself, “Should I really get the Verizon iPhone?”

Yes of course!
Let’s say you’ve been a loyal Verizon customer since the release of the original iPhone in 2007 but you’ve been patiently waiting for something to come and trounce the iPhone. The HTC’s and Droids have been close but they have never really reached that level grandeur the iPhone has. But now that has all changed. It’s finally happened and the little kid inside of you is ecstatic.

So far, it seems that the Verizon iPhone is faster than AT&T’s and will most likely have much less drop calls as well. If you were holding out to get the iPhone that is 4G/LTE capable you might be waiting a while even if you get the hardware, as it might take up to two years to get to a majority of US cities.

Wait it out

As usual Apple will be bound to announce some sort of new iPhone in June and then it'll go on sale later that month, or in early July, as it has every year. That's about six months from now. Inevitably, it will be better than the current iPhone 4 in some way. Mostly likely it won’t be jump like the iPhone 3GS to iPhone 4 but something just significant enough to make it better. Probably it’ll be thinner, with a better screen, a better battery, faster single-core processor, and a non-antennagate antenna.  And everybody will want it, because there's just enough change to make whatever you've currently got in your hand feel obsolete in some way.

Those who will get an iPhone 4 on February 10 (February 3 for a special few) will be locked into a 2-year contract. Their phones, that will sure to be superior than the AT&T ones at making calls, will be only new and shiny for only a couple months. It’s rumored that next version for Verizon iPhones will have LTE aka 4G and will be much faster than the current 3G version.

In addition, it’s almost guaranteed that the next generation of iPhone will come to both AT&T and Verizon at the same time because, why would Apple pass up the chance to potentially have double the profits?

So at the moment, the only reason to immediately get the Verizon iPhone 4G is if Verizon pulled some kind of crazy deal to go along with the phone such as unlimited data as the both phones cost the same on the two networks; something to give people an even larger incentive to come to Verizon. The best case scenario at this point would be if Verizon offered an upgrade to the new iPhone once it game out – something similar to a 1 year contract. However this isn’t very likely as Verizon is hold all the cards right now; the best network and the “best” (we can have the argument another time) phone. So if you’ve held out this long, what waiting just a little bit more?

Bottom Line

It really depends on who you are. If you’re someone who has been waiting for the Verizon iPhone and you’re happy with your current phone or carrier then wait a little more. There will be a new generation coming in the summer. The iPhone 4 will be a year old in June and by the time of the release of the new one will be old news.

However are you planning on making a change and signing a new contract anyways? Then go for it! By the time your contract expires you can have the best then. The same can be said if you rarely upgrade your phone and expect to have them for a while. You won’t be disappointed.

                                                          

But if you’re a current AT&T customer, than you might have to wait a little bit and see how the situation pans out. It’s  equally possible the Verizon will put out some kind of deal or AT&T will offer loyalty rewards.

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Is the Incredible, Incredible?

Well as the Incredible is coming closer and closer to being extinct many people are starting to think that it is the last of a dying breed. Over CES weekend Verizon Wireless released a couple new phones such as the new HTC Thunderbolt. This phone is powered by their 4G LTE that will most likely require a new type of data plan that won’t be unlimited which can really hurt some hard internet users. The plan Verizon has right now is unlimited 3G data for $30 a month. This means that you can use as much data as you want for only thirty dollars. With the 4G LTE plan it will likely cost maybe hundreds if you go over and use tons of data. To some people it is worth having unlimited 3G versus limited 4G LTE. So I would say if you are not into limited data plans I would go for the incredible and use Verizon’s $30 a month for unlimited data. 

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Thunderstorms in Town

At last there is the first phone for Verizon's 4G LTE, brought to you by Verizon at this year's CES the new HTC thunderbolt, also known by people watching the event as the HTC Tundabow. Now to the long awaited phone from Verizon that could've been called the Incredible HD or the Mecha, it is essentially the Incredible HD because of how similar it is to its HTC predecessor, the Incredible. It shows off the same 8.0 megapixel dual led back camera, but now it also has the long awaited front facing 1.3 megapixel VGA camera. It is the first phone on Verizon that a front facing camera. They also claim since they have a front facing camera they have integrated Skype in the phone heavily. They say that even if your phone is asleep it will still receive Skype messages and calls. This could be potentially bad toward the battery but they say it won’t, which I find very hard to believe. It's disappointing that this phone doesn’t have a dual core processor so it has the same old 1GHz processor. 

The screen is much like the other popular HTC phone, the EVO 4G. It is a 4.3” WVGA TFT capacitive touch screen. This screen will be really nice to watch the HD the camera can capture and even better the kickstand will allow hours of entertainment without having to hold it. Other miscellaneous specs about the new phone include: 8 GB internal memory and 32 GB preinstalled to the phone, also it will have the android 2.2 froyo software. 

One weirder thing i thought i would mention is that it has been released with LTE so it will have an LTE sim card slot. People might try to take advantage of this slot and maximize the phones potential on other networks, and if Verizon forces the new network on anyone who buys the phone they could suffer many losses because the incredible is a really good substitute to save money by just being satisfied with they’re powerful 3G network. We will see how Verizon tackles the price issue and I will let the tech world know. 

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Yacht Straight From Your Dreams

Looking like something that belongs in a 7 year old’s sketchbook, “The Streets of Monaco” luxury super-yacht by Yacht Island Design is meant to recreate a small section of Monaco known for its famous Formula One track and the Monaco Yacht Show. The company’s name seems fitting as the yacht act as a floating island with its own go-kart track and buildings that look like they should be on land.

Yacht Island Design’s directors, Rob McPherson and Scott Poxon, describe their company as one that wishes to “push design boundaries and create themed superyachts,” The Streets of Monaco being the first of two concept designs.

“The Streets of Monaco” is split into four main sections:

An upper level that contains a swimming pool with a swim-in Jacuzzi-bar and the “Casino Square,” an area that features a glass-bottom fountain.

A multi-use courtyard on the rear of the boat which can be used for activities such as tennis and can also

be used as a helipad.

The Oasis, an area that is used as the main boarding point and features a central waterfall. The Oasis is surrounded by large exterior windows that bring light into the room that is 2 decks high. Also included in the Oasis is a spa a manicure and hair salon, sauna and steam rooms, and relaxation room with another pool and bar. In addition, a gym and café bar are located here, with under-water views of the main swimming pool.

The Grand Atrium, the central hub of the yacht, links the upper and lower living quarters and features a waterfall that uses the water from the glass-bottom fountain above. Splitting of the lower area of the atrium are 7 guests suites, a library, communal office, communal balcony, and a theater. The upper area of the atrium connects to a main entertainment area, the owner’s suite that includes a main salon with Havana room and adjoining wine cellar, casino, dining room and dance hall.

Now even though it is still a concept, I really, really, hope that someone will buy this super yacht. I mean come on, it has it’s own submarine!
[Via Gizmodo]

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Motorola Xoom

After the iPad arrived, a massive amount of tablets seemed to come out of nowhere all running the Android OS. The major gripe that everyone has had about both the iOS on the iPad and Android is that they are merely giant versions of their smart phone siblings. Motorola has decided to work with Google to address this problem and released their solution during this year’s CES. For those of you who don’t know, CES stands for Consumer Electronics Show and is the largest show of its kind with over 2,000 different companies participating and over 100,000 people coming to visit. CES is famous for the debuts of new technology such as the CD, HDTVs, Xbox, Blu-ray and much more.

After many long hours of work Motorola has released its new tablet, the Xoom. What makes this so special you ask? Well it’s the fact that it is running a version of Android codenamed Honeycomb which was specifically built for tablets. Between this new operating system and Motorola’s impressive hardware the Xoom has managed to win the prized “Best of Show” award. Since the Xoom is obviously aimed to shoot down the iPad from its spot as best tablet, I will for the most be comparing it to the iPad’s hardware.

The first thing that you will notice is that compared to all other Android tablets the iPad is bigger by a few inches but the Xoom on the other hand is actually bigger! The iPad has a 9.7 inch screen with a resolution of 1024 by 768 but the Xoom has a screen size of 10.1 inches and a resolution of 1280 by 800! Even more important than that though, is the fact that unlike the iPad which has an awkward 1:1.33 aspect ratio the Xoom has a 16:9 ratio just like you HDTV at home. What this means is that you will be able to watch movies in the way they were meant to be watched and not stretched in some weird way just because your device’s screen is weird. While the Xoom’s screen is bigger than the iPad’s, it manages to be thinner and weigh the same (730 grams).

Now many people will say that comparing the iPad’s to the Xoom in terms of processor speed and RAM is not fair since the iPad came out almost a year ago and that the Xoom would obviously be better since it is more recent. I DISAGREE. My friends always compare their new phones (like the Droid Incredible) to my year and half old Palm Pre and say theirs is better. So if we are still at the point of comparing the newest phones to one and a half year old Pres which frankly wasn’t the best phone of its time them I’m pretty sure it’s okay to compare the Xoom to the less than ones year old flagship tablet called the iPad. In any case, the Xoom does indeed destroy the iPad in this department. The iPad contains a Cortex A8 1.0GHz CPU with 256MB of RAM whereas the Xoom has a NVIDIA Tegra 2, 1GHz dual-core CPU with a whopping 1GB of RAM. The iPad only has a quarter of the Ram that the Xoom does. The Xoom also has 2 cores which means it can truly multitask unlike the iPad’s cute little popup bar thing at the bottom of the screen that doest really work.

The biggest gripe that people have over the iPad is its lack of camera and any sort of output besides Apple’s proprietary thing. The Xoom on the other hand has a 2MP front facing camera for self shots and video conferencing and a 5MP camera with dual LED flash and 720p video capture. The Xoom has a microUSB, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and just about any other way to get content on and off and to whatever kind of device you’re after. One of my favorite things about the Xoom though, is the fact that Motorola understands that consumers hate when their expensive devices become obsolete a month after they buy them. So what Motorola has done is when they sell the Xoom at first it will have Wi-Fi and 3G just like the iPad but it is 4G capable so once Motorola figures everything out, which should be sometime in Q2, your Xoom will be 4G capable. Yes this is a tablet and super high speeds aren’t need to browse the internet on it but if you decide to use it as a mobile hotspot for your laptop or computer at home instead of paying for DSL it will be blazingly fast.

Now where the Xoom doesn’t destroy the iPad is in the battery life and storage departments. Both the iPad and the Xoom get 10 hours of video playback time on a single chare which is more than enough for me. In terms of storage the iPad comes in choices of 16, 32 or 64 GB of internal storage. The Xoom comes only with 32GB of storage built in but it has a SD card slot expandable up to 32 GB. I'm sure Apple haters will say that having a SD card slot is better because you can carry around extra SD cards so technically the Xoom has unlimited storage space, but honestly? No one is going to do that.

Final decision?

Xoom > iPad

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