technology

There seems to be a never-ending cycle in consumer electronics: a new company comes along and introduces the next breakthrough in tech-based innovations, consumers buy into the product in droves, the novelty of the product wanes, the company ... re-packages the product in wireless form, the novelty of the product wanes, a new company comes along and introduces the next breakthrough in tech-based innovations... Meet the latest product to get re-packaged in wireless form: High-Definition TV. The move towards wireless "Hi-Def" is not a simple transition. Many companies have made several unsuccessful ... (view more)

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have taught two monkeys how to feed themselves with a human-like robotic arm using only signals from their brains. The rate at which technology improves has continued to break down the ... walls of the impossible on a daily basis. Ideas that were once reserved only for futuristic television shows like The Jetsons and Futurama have slowly crept into the realm of possibility. Sitting in front of your computer screen in North America and sifting through the pages of Le Monde from Paris does not seem to impress us anymore. Typing out a ... (view more)

As the population gets older, new applications begin to reflect that shift. Many are assistive devices to help older persons cope with their aging; in fact, there is such a plethora of new technology applications that it deserves a category of its ... own: call it: "geron-technology". It's no surprise this type of technology is emerging. The market is growing. The CDC estimates that the number of persons older than 65 will increase from 35 million in the year 2000 to more than 70 million by 2030. In Europe by 2030, the largest single age group will be over age 65 and the average age is expected ... (view more)

A program originally designed to block pirated videos on YouTube will now assist tracking child predators on the web. The technology, developed by Google, will help the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in reviewing 13 ... million images of abuse. (Source: reuters.com ) A key component of the new program has been described as "finger-printing technology". Google has been advocating the measure as a standard to combat web-based video piracy. "The program uses pattern recognition and will work even if the pattern has been modified," technology analyst Larry Magid told the ... (view more)

New technology out of Japan could ensure that you think twice about how your toothy grin will appear once a photo is taken. Omron Corp., a major electronics and health care company, has created new technology that works with virtually any type of ... modern camera to analyze a person's smile. The technology takes into account curved lips, eye movements and other facial features to determine how much a person is smiling. Multiply this feature by 100 faces within the same image and a simple photo becomes an interactive game of "who has the best smile". (Source: usatoday.com ) The technology has ... (view more)

If you operate a small business, then you know how difficult and expensive it can be to try to compete with bigger businesses. It often seems like an uphill battle. But now, you can find a valuable ally in your effort to grow against the flow: ... technology. Technology can empower your small business and level the playing field when competing against larger businesses. If you're looking to grow your business or are finding yourself going head-to-head with the big guys, there are a variety of technological tools and sources that can help. (Source: businessweek.com ) Among the technologies most ... (view more)

America Online (AOL) has broken its vows of proprietary ownership and will soon integrate open source Jabber protocols into its AIM and ICQ instant messaging services. AOL is currently in the process of testing a new version of AIM, using the Jabber ... platform as a way to make improvements to its service and eliminate potential operating bugs. While the modifications are still in the test phase, supporters of open source software are looking forward to the potential benefits Jabber can provide. (Source: betanews.com ) Although Jabber is relatively well known within technical circles, most ... (view more)

Who will Americans choose in 2008 to lead the country into a new decade? Republican? Democrat? Conservative? Liberal? Independent? The conventional wisdom is to compare the various presidential candidates on all the so-called "popular" issues: ... things like immigration, Roe vs. Wade, the war in Iraq, the economy, Global Warming, and health care. But the stance a president takes on 'high' technology can also result in world-changing events and may be more important than you think. Don't believe it? Consider President Kennedy -- his going-to-the-moon objective catalyzed years of technology ... (view more)

Up until this Christmas, the likelihood of Dad getting an HD-DVD or Blu-ray player was on par with his hopes of sliding a brand new Ferrari around Germany's Nuburgring. That's because extravagant cost has kept high definition movie players outside ... the average family home. That is, until this Christmas. For the first time in the history of the technology, Blu-ray and HD-DVD players are actually affordable gifts. When Sony introduced its first Blu-ray player, the BD-P1000, most homeowners -- even the hardcore techies -- scoffed at the $1,000 price tag. Although Toshiba's HD-DVD players were ... (view more)

Google is introducing an innovative service to customers, this time targeting web mobile users. The 'My Location' feature in Google Maps Mobile 2.0 is currently undergoing beta testing and will attempt to provide mapping services via user cell ... phones. The concept of mapping technology in mobile devices is not particularly ground-breaking, as several smart-phones currently on the market have Global Positioning System (GPS) technology embedded into them. However, the advantage of this new service will be to provide access to mapping services to web mobile users whose devices do not have ... (view more)