Thursday, January 22, 2009 9:59 AM/EST
Here are the emerging technologies stories for the week of January 19th.
Zero-Watt PC - Fujitsu has announced that they will unveil a PC at the CeBIT show that uses zero watts of power while in standby mode. This should be the one of th first of many PCs in the future with this capability.
More Progress in E-Ink - Flexible computer screens technology continues to progress, if somewhat slowly. Researchers are developing a new semiconductor ink that should accelerate the development of bendable screens.
Advanced Micro Motors - Nano motors have long been the goal of nanotechnology but most of those shown so far are fairly basic. According to this report, researchers have made significant strides at developing more advanced nano motors which could greatly improve nanotechnology in many areas.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008 2:51 PM/EST
It has been in many ways a tough year for the One Laptop Per Child project. Several of the original team that made the XO laptop possible left the organization, a new chief operating officer and president, Charles Kane, was brought in, some orders by some countries never went through and (worst of all, to some people) the OLPC agreed to run Windows on the XO.
But whatever one thinks of the OLPC or some of the personalities involved in it, its goals still remain laudable, and even a year after its launch the XO laptop is still one of the most interesting pieces of computing equipment available today.
Monday, December 15, 2008 4:44 PM/EST
"Sir, technology is in great danger!"
"Yes, I know. We are once again menaced by that evil villain, Bad Economy. He'll stop at nothing to crush technology spending, humble powerful technology companies and kill all innovation."
"But what will we do sir? I don't think technology can take much more of this!"
"There is hope. In the past when Bad Economy has struck, a hero has come forth who has fought back to protect technology, a hero called, Emerging Technology. In the early 1990's, Bad Economy struck hard, using his evil recession ray to rain woe on all. But Emerging Technology fought with the powers of improved PC technology, powerful networking and email applications, and, most effectively, the early World Wide Web. These technologies helped boost businesses and drive Bad Economy back to his hidden lair."
Tuesday, November 04, 2008 1:40 PM/EST
OK, I have a great idea for a new business method patent. It's a system by which customers can select among a prebuilt list of goods or products, and then choose how they would like these products customized and enhanced.
The system is extremely flexible and can be applied to everything from computers to hamburgers. I call it the "Have it your way" method.
I can't wait to get this patent, and I fully expect to get it. After all, if it's possible to get a business method patent for a way to use a playground swing, this should be rock-solid. And, once I get it, I can send out the legal notices to all those computer manufacturers, burger royalty and others violating my extremely innovative idea.
Before I submit my great patent idea, I think I'll catch up on some of my news reading. Hmm, the U.S. Court of Appeals rules against business method patents. Oh, well, there goes that idea.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008 1:29 PM/EST
 Back in 2002 I wrote a column titled "It's time for next Internet." In that column I bemoaned the fact that we were still stuck with an aging Internet infrastructure and urged more progress in next-generation Internet initiatives such as IPv6 and Internet2.
At that time, while I was unhappy with the progress of these initiatives, I was pretty sure of one thing: By the end of 2008, we would definitely have made significant progress toward a new Internet infrastructure.
Boy, did that guess turn out to be wrong.
In the six-plus years since I wrote that column, advancement toward a new Internet has been glacial, at best. Come to think of it, given global warming, glaciers are probably moving faster than next-gen Internet initiatives.
Thursday, September 25, 2008 9:42 AM/EST
Yesterday I attended the Emerging Technologies Conference at MIT (also known as Technology Review EmTech 08). This conference looks at many of the new technologies and the issues surrounding them today and in the near future.
The first day of the conference was heavy on discussion panels, which were impressive for the luminaries from across technology and academia who participated in them, and in the important areas that they addressed, such as green technology and cloud computing.
Yesterday I attended the Emerging Technologies Conference at MIT (also known as Technology Review EmTech 08). This conference looks at many of the new technologies and the issues surrounding them today and in the near future.
The first day of the conference was heavy on discussion panels, which were impressive for the luminaries from across technology and academia who participated in them, and in the important areas that they addressed, such as green technology and cloud computing.
I have to admit though that the conference was probably too weighted toward panels. I found the panels I attended to be interesting but, in general, I tend to think of discussion panels as the Lite beer of technology conferences. They do tend to be enjoyable to watch (tastes great!) but they also tend to be low on actual information to digest (less filling!).
Thursday, August 14, 2008 2:11 PM/EST
Here are the emerging technologies stories for the week of August 11th.
Cars that Collaborate - The EU is reserving a section of spectrum to be used for cars to communicate with each other and with roadside installations. The idea is to protect against collisions and hazards, and I'm sure it would never be used for law enforcement.
Fast Internet to Go Slow - Researchers are looking at the use of metamaterials to slow down fast Internet connections without the need for electrical conversions, something that could speed up the overall Internet.
USB 3.0 Spec Released - Intel has released a nearly complete specification for the next generation of USB 3.0 connections.
Thursday, August 07, 2008 10:15 AM/EST
What will the Web look like in ten years? Will we still be using something similar to current web browsers or will there be a radically new interface for the web? And will we even be using something like a PC or will all access be through mobile devices and dedicated appliances?
These and other questions are what Mozilla Labs is hoping to answer with their Concept Series, which is dedicated towards discussing and preparing for the future web. And one of the first and most interesting projects from the Concept Series is Aurora, a fully thought out idea of a browser in 2018.
Aurora is the brainchild of Adaptive Path, a design and consulting firm. Aurora doesn't exist as a real application, it is simply a set of ideas and graphical mockups. But it does point to a possible new direction for web browsers.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 9:42 AM/EST
Here are the emerging technologies stories for the week of July 28th.
Lasers get in the Groove - Researchers at Harvard and Hamamatsu Photonics are working on a new technique to focus lasers using etched grooves rather than large and bulky lenses. If it works it could revolutionize the use of lasers in a whole host of fields.
A $10 Laptop from India - An institue in India says that they are working on a education laptop that they hope to be able to provide for $10. Not sure how that will be possible for anything but a toy but we'll see.
What will be our next display options? - Nice little roundup of Boston area companies working on next generation displays, everything from e-paper to display glasses.
Driving with Clippy - Microsoft is announcing a new focus on providing computing resources for automobiles. Intriguing possibilities though jokes about Blue Screens of Death on the highway are inevitable.
Thursday, July 24, 2008 11:10 AM/EST
Here are the emerging technologies stories for the week of July 21st.
Put the CPU in the Fridge - An interesting project at Purdue University where researchers are working on a terchnique to use micro components to refrigerate PC processors.
Highly Predictive Security - The folks over at SANS and SRI will be presenting a service that uses detailed analysis methodologies and DShield to improve network blacklisting techniques.
Your Next Gadget CPU - Intel is talking about their next line of system on a chip processors which are destined for the next generation of gadgets.
The Future Rosie the Robot - A French company is offering a humanoid robot at a comparatively low price. Though still very high for essentially a toy.
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