Technology

An ophthalmologist at the University of Tennessee has unveiled a new imaging technique used to diagnose diabetes over the Internet. A specialized camera is used on a potentially diabetic patient to analyze the inner surface of their eye. The photo ... is then uploaded to a database of thousands of other images (a mix of healthy and diseased pictures) for comparison. Algorithms then assign a disease level to the uploaded image by taking into account similar factors such as damaged blood vessels and discoloration. (Source: whytewolf.us ) While the creator of the system, Andrew Chaum, still ... (view more)

It seems automobiles aren't the only consumer item 'going green' these days. At last week's annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, popular electronics manufacturer Samsung unveiled a solar-powered cellphone constructed from recycled plastic ... water bottles, making quite the splash with enviro-techies worldwide. At the Toronto International Auto Show this past week, just about everyone was thinking green. Hydrogen, electric, and hybrid cars dominated center stage throughout the event, just as they had weeks before at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. With automotive ... (view more)

Microsoft is set to release a new application for mobile phones that run Windows Mobile 6.0 and higher. The free application is called Microsoft Recite and, as an added bonus, Microsoft is granting some of their users early access to fiddle around ... with it before the official launch date. Recite allows users to speak into their mobile phones and record any message they wish to retrieve later. All a person has to do is press the "remember" button, record their thoughts and later retrieve their messages by pressing the "search" button and saying just a couple of keywords. (Source: zdnet.com ) ... (view more)

If you are planning a trip to Mexico in the near future and forget your mobile phone at home, try to resist the urge to purchase a replacement (no matter how inexpensive the phone plans are over there!) The Mexican government has agreed to start a ... national register filled with the fingerprints and personal information of every new mobile phone owner in the country. Why start a national register now? A disturbing trend has emerged in which criminals are extorting money via kidnappings and using their mobile phones to text their demands for ransom. In Mexico, hundreds of people are kidnapped ... (view more)

According to a UCLA professor, today's kids might use their brains much differently than children in previous generations. The findings could mean that current teaching and testing methods are ineffective in estimating their intelligence. Patricia ... Greenfield looked at more than 50 studies of technology's effects on children. She found that media such as television and video games do limit some aspects of their mental skills, but also help improve them in other ways. Tests over the last 50 years show a clear and consistent increase in visual reasoning skills. These involve seeing information ... (view more)

Television stations in 22 major U.S. cities have come together to announce that they will soon broadcast their signals in a format designed for mobile devices like cellphones, mp3 players and GPS units. The 22 stations, which include broadcasts out ... of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston, would reach over 35 percent of all U.S. households. In total, 54 commercial network affiliates have committed to launching broadcasts, while another nine PBS affiliates are considering joining the project. (Source: canoe.ca ) The difference between these broadcasts and current mobile television ... (view more)

Everybody was talking about Barack Obama's inauguration on Tuesday morning, and it showed. According to reports, a number of mobile phone networks faced overload circumstances that day until late afternoon, when the chat sessions finally began to ... dissipate. Having the most trouble that morning appears to have been T-Mobile, with PC World reporting that one customer complained they were unable to make or receive calls throughout the entire morning leading up to Obama's appearance. With cellphones an often necessary lifeline for personal and business purposes, the victim's disgust is certainly ... (view more)

Palm recently unveiled their response to the Apple iPhone: the Pre. Among its many features is a new operating system supporting the device (Palm WebOS) and an iPhone-like touch-screen. The Pre uses a sophisticated interface which self-charges on a ... special platform without the need to attach a cable. The device also boasts 8GB of storage, GPS navigation, WiFi networking and a sliding mini-keyboard. (Source: iht.com ) Despite always being regarded as a major contender in the smartphone industry, Palm has suffered many recent setbacks, including the 2007 cancellation of their much-anticipated ... (view more)

It seems the abnormally low number of exhibitors at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has been paralleled by a startling slide in attendance by Joe Techie. With the recession on and consumer spending down, overall attendance is even lower than ... first expected. About a week ago, we reported that CES organizers expected the number of visitors for 2009 to be down slightly from last year's 141,000, perhaps between 130,000 and 135,000. That was evident the weekend prior to the event, when it was alarmingly easy to find a hotel room in Las Vegas, CES' annual host city. That's usually not the case ... (view more)

Hoping to turn their sagging fortunes around, Ford is set to debut a highly-anticipated technology allowing cars to parallel park themselves without driver assistance. Better yet, the entire self-parking experience is promised to be ... scratch-and-dent-free. The technology relies on ultrasonic sensors on the front and rear of the automobile, combined with electric power steering to angle and guide the vehicle into tight parking spaces. (Source: siliconvalley.com ) While the process sounds complicated, all a driver has to do is push one button and the system takes over from there. A visual or ... (view more)