Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Sure, we’ll admit to a certain unhealthy super-fun fascination with gadgetry, but a new study out this month by the Solutions Research Group says that overall, we’re borderline obsessed — and that 68 percent of Americans in general feel anxious when not connected in one way or another. The study used research collected on almost 5,000 people over two years, and found that feelings of “disconnect anxiety” affected people of all ages, triggering sentiments like “dazed,” “disoriented,” “tense,” “inadequate” and even “panic.” Interestingly, however, the reasons for disconnect anxiety changed as subjects got older — teens and young adults worried about social communications being cut off, while older adults mostly fretted over work and safety issues. The study is backed up by all kinds of humorously embarrassing data like the percentage of BlackBerry users who’ve sent a message in the bathroom (63%) and the average number of Facebook friends a 12-24 year old has (159) but what we found most surprising is that just 37% of laptop owners frequently use their machines in the bedroom. That seems awfully low to us — what if you miss something while you’re asleep?
[Warning: PDF link]
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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Sure, we’ll admit to a certain unhealthy super-fun fascination with gadgetry, but a new study out this month by the Solutions Research Group says that overall, we’re borderline obsessed — and that 68 percent of Americans in general feel anxious when not connected in one way or another. The study used research collected on almost 5,000 people over two years, and found that feelings of “disconnect anxiety” affected people of all ages, triggering sentiments like “dazed,” “disoriented,” “tense,” “inadequate” and even “panic.” Interestingly, however, the reasons for disconnect anxiety changed as subjects got older — teens and young adults worried about social communications being cut off, while older adults mostly fretted over work and safety issues. The study is backed up by all kinds of humorously embarrassing data like the percentage of BlackBerry users who’ve sent a message in the bathroom (63%) and the average number of Facebook friends a 12-24 year old has (159) but what we found most surprising is that just 37% of laptop owners frequently use their machines in the bedroom. That seems awfully low to us — what if you miss something while you’re asleep?
[Warning: PDF link]
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I read headlines all the time, I also read how others read headlines all the time. This whole Pioneer to exit the plasma business and no more Kuro plasmas business has really been a fascinating window into human psychology. This all peaked (for me at least) yesterday when a client said “Pioneer’s going to stop […]
Filed under: Cellphones
This is just getting silly, don’t you think? The iPhone Dev Team has once again proven their totally gnarly talents by freeing up the latest firmware before it’s even the latest firmware. Apple, here’s our suggestion — just let people do what they want with your devices, since they’re clearly going to do it anyway. That way, instead of making enemies, you’re making lifelong buddies. Reasonable, right? Steve, give us a call, we’re more than happy to riff on some ideas for playing nice with the end-user.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
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Filed under: Cellphones
This is just getting silly, don’t you think? The iPhone Dev Team has once again proven their totally gnarly talents by freeing up the latest firmware before it’s even the latest firmware. Apple, here’s our suggestion — just let people do what they want with your devices, since they’re clearly going to do it anyway. That way, instead of making enemies, you’re making lifelong buddies. Reasonable, right? Steve, give us a call, we’re more than happy to riff on some ideas for playing nice with the end-user.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
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Filed under: Transportation
Air Force buffs, prepare to salute a true American hero as it makes it way into the annals of military history: the F-117 stealth fighter. The planes — one of the most enigmatic members of the military’s arsenal — will be making their final trip on April 21st from Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico to Tonopah Test Range Airfield in Nevada, the home of their first flight. The aircraft is being replaced by a newer model, the F-22 Raptor, and the government says it has no plans to bring the radar-dodging planes out of retirement. In all, there have only been 59 F-117s that have rolled off the assembly line, 37 of which have already been taken out of the skies, and another seven which have crashed. We’ll miss you, F-117, and all the totally awesome, completely secret stuff you did.
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Filed under: Transportation
Air Force buffs, prepare to salute a true American hero as it makes it way into the annals of military history: the F-117 stealth fighter. The planes — one of the most enigmatic members of the military’s arsenal — will be making their final trip on April 21st from Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico to Tonopah Test Range Airfield in Nevada, the home of their first flight. The aircraft is being replaced by a newer model, the F-22 Raptor, and the government says it has no plans to bring the radar-dodging planes out of retirement. In all, there have only been 59 F-117s that have rolled off the assembly line, 37 of which have since been taken out of the skies, and another seven which have crashed. We’ll miss you, F-117, and all the totally awesome, completely secret stuff you did.
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Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio
We’ve seen extravagant iPod docks before, but this Krell and MartinLogan “ElectroKID” bundle put together by the folks at Absolute Sounds makes just about all those other pretenders pale in comparison. At the heart of things here is the Krell KID iPod dock, which boasts ” top-quality preamp circuitry” and is also available separately for a mere £1,350 (or about $2,700). That gets teamed up with a pair of MartinLogan Purity floorstanding speakers (£2,390, or $4,800 on their own), which each pack their own 200W power amp and, as you can see, make quite the statement in any room you place ‘me in. If that’s sounds like the missing piece to your iPod puzzle, you can get the complete system now for £3,740, or just over $7,500 (that’s right, not even a discount to entice you).
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Filed under: Features, GPS
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment.
As demonstrated by last year’s purchases of map providers Navteq and Tele Atlas, companies are betting big on the future of location-based services. Knowing, processing, and integrating the location of people and things can be a valuable bridge between the digital and physical worlds, but today most of the activity is in the simple direction of cars from a location to a destination.
Zoombak offers a portable unit about the size of a Zippo lighter that integrates a GPS receiver and cellular radio that reports back on its location when queried. The company offers the unit in two packages — one for use in vehicles and the other for use with dogs.
The receivers in both products are identical and the packages are distinguished by their included accessories: the one for pets includes a collar attachment. Unlike that of one competitor, PocketFinder, the Zoombak receiver is not waterproof, but the company offers tips on how to make it better withstand the elements.
Continue reading Switched On: Zoombak puts your vehicle on the map
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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Considering how much impact our gadgets already have on our day-to-day lives, we not sure we don’t already live in a mixed reality environment, but researchers at the University of Illinois have created what they say is the first true mixed reality system based on a pendulum and its virtual counterpart. Both the real pendulum and the simulation mimic each others’ movements exactly — adjusting the motor affects the simulation and adjusting the parameters of the simulation affects the motor — blurring the line between the real and the virtual. That sounds simple, sure, but it’s the first successful system of its kind — as researcher Alfred Hubler put it, “[The pendulums] suddenly noticed each other, synchronized their motions, and danced together indefinitely.” Seeing as simply creating a mixed-reality pendulum took super-fast processors, we doubt we’re any closer to the Matrix — unless it’s a Matrix inside another Matrix. We need to go lie down.
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