watch tHe skies

So i know I’m a little late with talking about last week’s Dragons Den, but it’s been a hectic week and I’ve only just caught up with my Sky+ stuff as I was away for most of the week, and then we had the not that small affair of Ben’s christening, Jen’s 30th and our 5th Wedding anniversary. Consequently I only got round to watching it last night.

So amongst the usual line up of mad inventions, including the cucumber “saver” and yoga for children, there was one that really caught my attention. A patent lawyer and his friends had developed some software for seamlessly mixing dance mp3s. (more…)

Just caught the first episode in this series’ Dragon’s Den. The guys that present their barmy inventions really do have some cahones, but at the sacrifice of any business sense at all! A woman who thought that she had invented disposable toilet seats that can’t be flushed, to coffee table computers, it’s an entertaining show, and only one man walked away with investment, in his ceramic egg cooker. Despite failing to get it to work, he got his money, and I must say that as soon as it gets to market, I’m having one…utter genius idea!

Literally only weeks after my post about the upcoming electric car conspiracy movie, Who killed the electric car? I stumble upon a new car company in the US selling what is, for an intents and purposes, a electric Lotus Elise. Doing 0-60 in 4 seconds and with a range of 250 miles, the Tesla Roadster is some upgrade on the Sinclair C5.

Despite being assembled in the UK by Lotus, there doesn’t appear to be any short-term intent to sell them over here. The US market is obviously bigger and more sensitive about their fuel prices (after all, we’ve been fleeced sideways for too long on that issue).

It does come with a few issues, in particular the need for a 70amp source at home to charge it. However I suspect that the largest barrier to its introduction here will be the government’s inability to earn any tax from its fuel. If we can all fuel our cars from home, then where will they get the money to spend on pointless consultants in the public sector? There will probably be a need to have a charger professionally installed with a seperate meter so that the power companies can then charge out car recharging at a seperate rate…. nasty. here’s hoping that by the time it or its siblings arrive in the UK, that they come with solar cell panelling…

There are a lot of people wondering what Apple will do next. After all it hasn’t released a new iPod model in six months, which is unheard of in recent years. Speculation over the pointless concept of a video nano continues in the absence of any other information.

But the trouble is, where do Apple go from here? They have the market share, an excellent form factor, great styling and a brilliant music management software (iTunes), plus the ability to watch videos if you really have nothing better to watch them on.

I think that the recent introduction of the Apple iPod speaker and the Nike running add-on could be the sign of things to come. The iPod accessory market is enormous and I think that Apple is going for that area of the market. If you take a look at what people use their iPods for, there are three main areas:

Travelling by car - iPod integration is a huge opportunity to tie in to specific brands of vehicle and target their customers. I think that we will see some pretty tight integration coming in to factory fitted head units over the next couple of years. A standard accessory would be a decent dock, maybe in the glove compartment, because once you have all of the track and playlist data on the head unit, you can tuck the iPod away out of the sight of thieves.

Travelling by public transport - Noise cancellation and wireless headphones are the two areas that stand out. However both will take a chunk out of battery life so that is a challenge. Noise cancellation could be a real selling point. After all, using noise cancellation headphones with an iPod adds a big chunk of hardware and additional batteries. Integrating a microphone and the circuitry in to the iPod could be a goer nowadays.

Exercise - Man my gym is full of people wearing their iPods. Whilst the Nike running add-on appeals to many dedicated runners, I think that a heart-rate monitor add-on would have a wider market. An interface unit to Polar products would capture the marketplace, and allow both companies to sell their products in to new customers. It would certainly save me carrying more gadgets than Batman to the gym.

So there you go, my view of the future that is absolutely true until disproven.

And whilst we are on the subject, here is one improvement that I wish they would get on with: zero gaps between tracks. Is it beyond the wit of man to remove the gap between tracks so that continuously segued albums don’t sound rubbish? You either need to rip the CD as one continuous track, or put up with a stutter every five minutes or so. Personally it puts me off listening to mixed albums on my iPod, which is a bit limiting given my love of melodic trance. So come on Apple, sort it out!!

The Guinness Widget is a neat feat of engineering and it does pour a halfway decent pint from a can, compared to what you’d get from a keg at a pub, but my latest gadget is considerably more impressive than a little plastic thing that you don’t get to see unless you rip the old can apart (which is a fairly pointless use of your time and energy, believe me, I know). The Guinness Surger is a electrical device with a small metal plate on it; you pour a little water onto the plate, put a pint of the special Guinness Draught Surger Beer in place and then turn the power on, sending ultrasonic pulses up through the beer to create the creamy head we all know and love.

If that sounds incredible, you really need to watch the video and see it in action, or alternatively go out and get one. Currently only Tescos sell it, but it is sure to catch on. It had better do, as you need to buy flat guinness to get it to work.

Baby won’t stop crying unless you rock him \ her? Some people drive baby around, but not us, we purchased an automated baby rocker that gently moves pram \ basket \ chair back and forth at around 60-70rpm, simulating movement and, for the most part, soothing the irate infant.

We’ve had ours for a few days and it certainly seems to quieten him, maybe for 30-60 minutes a day, but with him content to play, it gives us a little time to make a cup of tea or nip to the loo, both of which seem at a premium when little Ben is demaning attention.

You can find out more about the dream mover here.

So as our company owners have now sold their shares to a PLC and disappeared in to the sunset with millions of quids, they have left us lowly employees with a nice little bonus. Both Jen and I get the bonus and she’s used some of hers to buy a Canon Ixus 60 and SELPHY 710 photo printer with which to document every moment of baby Ben’s life.

And yet I haven’t turned bonus in to gadget. Why?

Because I can’t for the life of me think of a gadget to get.

I KNOW!! Unbelievable.

There are a few gadgets that I’m interested in, such as the Sony Reader and \ or the Sony Ericsson 950i, but neither of them are available yet and this whole gadget desire needs relatively immediate satisfaction.

I could get myself an Xbox 360, but I’m not sure that I will get much of a chance to use it with a baby gadget like Ben.

So what else is there? A Sanyo Xacti C6 pocket video camera would be cool but as I am still getting around to editing the footage from our Egypt holiday 2 years ago I dont see the point in taking loads of footage of Ben, particularly as he doesn’t do much else beyond sleeping, soiling, feeding and farting.

Andy suggests a HD Plasma \ LCD TV, but as our 36″ Panny is only a couple of years old it would be a crime to replace it until we have had it long enough to cover the depreciation on a CRT TV, even if it is a thing of beauty and considerable weight (100kg).

What is more although my original iPod is now looking a bit worn and battered, I don’t need a new one because I rarely fill my Nano to brimming and the iPod video screen isn’t a patch on my PSP so no need. Apple haven’t brought out a new gadget for ages so no joy there.

I even contemplated a sky gnome but it just seems like a lot of money for very much and it is probably on 2.7ghz which would interfere with the wifi. What is a man to do?

So for once I sit here with money to burn and no gadget to burn it on. It’s horrible situation I must say. Usually I have too many gadget desires and not enough money to get them all…:(

Saw this blog post over at technorati about the new Accenture screen at Chicago O’Hare airport. A 10′x7′ touchscreen allows users to move images about and manipulate the information. It looks a lot like the screen used by Tom Cruise in Minority Report.

Interestingly, with the introduction of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags in to passenger tickets at many airports, screens like this can present customised information to the user based on nationality, journey plan, previous trips and spend profile, which is frighteningly close to the scene in Minority Report where Tom walks down the corridor and is bombarded by personalised adverts.

Of course airports are already using biometrics to track passengers. Face identification is under test at Heathrow Airport, and Schiphol Airport allows frequent flyers to bypass security using retinal scanning. With the increasing demand for identity tracking in public places, many of the gadgets and gizmos we’ve seen in recent scifi movies are here for real or on their way.

The boys over at Engadget are predicting the imminent announcement of the iPod Nano Video. Probably available in 4gb and 8gb incarnations, this would match Nano and big daddy iPod functionality.

Cool?

Hmm probably not. I have to say that the Nano screen is so small, even cover art is hard to see, so I just don’t see the point of adding video, it’s just not practical to watch for any length of time. To be fair I think that the big daddy iPod screen is too small to watch movies, let alone the Nano. The big daddy is ok for music videos and showing comedy adverts and the like to mates in the pub, but that’s all.

I am of course slightly biased by the fact that the PSP kicks the iPod’s ass in this respect. Having had one for a few months now, I can say that the PSP screen is beautifully sharp and watching a movie on it on the train is quite comfortable, with the added plus that you can have a couple of spare batteries in your pocket for long journeys. Some might say that the MS Pro Duo is the limiting factor, but you can get a 2gb card for £60 from ebay, which will easily hold 2 movies.

Obviously we still have to wait for dream gadget that does both music and video at a decent size. Personally I am holding out for a PSP PDF reader, which would make the device a must-have; ebooks on the move. There is a homemade program that supposedly reads PDFs for the PSP but I can’t get it to work on mine. There may be a long wait for the Sony firmware update to include it, as Sony are releasing the Sony Reader, a handheld ebook reader. Around the size of a small paperback, the print quality looks excellent, and I presume that it will be accompanied by a decent ebook store absolutley brimming with DRM through an expanded Sony Connect store. So will this be the next iPod? Maybe, but size is a problem, and personally I am moving more towards audiobooks on my iPod than print on a computer screen. I don’t think that there will be a big enough market for ebook readers. What would be cool, however, is a PDF to ebook converter, good enough to bring all of the subtleties of the spoken word from a PDF, but we may be some way from seeing such a device on the shelf.

Cursed with two left feet? Well perhaps Dada Footwear’s Code M basketball trainers will make your feet more musical. The silver trainers come with a built-in MP3 player capable of storing 100 songs, a wireless headset and embedded speakers for private and public listening, and a USB port for downloading and charging through your computer.

For those who need a trainer’s voice to keep them motivated, Dada’s also planning a Get-Fit program, allowing Code M owners to store a workout regimen in their shoes. Personally I can’t see a real market for these at $200, you might as well get an iPod and not worry about finding space for the sync cradle for a pair of shoes. Besides, if muggers see you coming with white earbuds, then imagine their glee when they spot these silver eyesores! At least if someone steals your iPod you still have some footwear in which to make it home.