It was a momentous week for tech, where commerce met spaceflight, a popular smart watch faced off with a wily competitor, a futuristic way to compute turned into reality, and a commonplace inconvenience was suddenly eliminated with an ingenious idea.
if you’re looking for a quick peek into the future, you’d arrived at our own special portal that will take you there with just a few clicks. So sit back and strap yourself in, pilgrim, and ride along with us in the latest edition of Top 10 Tech This Week.
1. LG 55-Inch OLED: The "Ultimate Display"
LG 55-Inch Ultimate Display
When I first laid eyes on the LG 55-inch OLED display at CES last January, it was love at first sight. Now LG says its "Ultimate Display" will be available in the second half of this year. I'm thinking that means December.
This astonishing US$10,000 TV of the future will be worth the wait. Its displays the most saturated and vivid colours I've ever seen on any screen, and besides its spectacular rendition of video, it brings along additional surprising specs.
The thing is just 4mm thin, and look at that extremely tiny bezel. Backed by carbon fibre, the TV weighs a mere 22 pounds, a feat that seems nearly impossible. It'll even have a "dual-play" technology that will let two people watch different content on the screen at the same time. Could be great for gamers.
Can't bear to part with US$10K for TV? Someday sooner than later, these beauties will be cheap - my guess is they'll cost half that by the second half of next year.
2. Cookoo Connected Watch
If you liked that Pebble Smartwatch I showed you a few weeks ago, you might like the Cookoo watch even more. It also works on Android and iOS devices, but that's where the similarity ends. This simpler connected watch uses icons, beeps or vibrations to alert you of incoming calls, texts, tweets, calendar reminders and Facebook chats and messages. And if your life is already too digital, you'll like its analogue hands. Better yet, there's no fussing with charging every day, either - its battery is said to last a year.
It's a Kickstarter project, so if you pledge 50 bucks you can get in line for one now, or wait for it to go retail, where you'll pay between US$99.95 to US$129.95 depending on style and colour. Looks cool - the only downside I can see is that it looks a bit thick for my taste. See for yourself: Check out our video here.
3. Leap Gesture-Based Computing
Leap Gesture-Based Computing
You see that little box the size of the small bar of soap underneath the screen? That's Leap, a sensor smart enough to tell which of your fingers are pointing at the screen. It reacts accordingly, reportedly with no latency. It can even discern between fingers and thumbs. And, its maker says it's 200 times more precise than motion control technology has ever been.
Here's a closer view of Leap. Hey, if it's that good, maybe this could someday replace keyboards and mice. Can't wait for that Minority Report style of gesture-based computing? It's not available yet, but the company says its little box will be shipping this winter. If Leap works as well as promised, it will be well worth its US$69.99 price.
4. LiquiGlide Super-Slippery Coating
Tired of waiting for that ketchup to finally come out of the bottle, or digging around for the last mini-dollop of mayonnaise? Thanks to the brain trust at MIT, now there's LiquiGlide, a magic new coating that makes the inside of containers super-slippery. Made of proven-safe substances that are already used in foods, it's completely non-toxic and can be applied to glass, metal, ceramics or plastic.
To be used first in food containers, there are also plans to use it in oil pipelines and other conduits where things get clogged up too easily, and to keep ice from sticking to windshields. It's hard to believe how well it works until you see it in action.
5. Mondrian Fanless PC
In a world where computers have increasingly become commodities, Jeffrey Stephenson is an artist who blends beauty with technology. Usually handcrafting computers from a variety of attractive woods, Stephenson's latest creation is accented with acrylic tiles arranged in the style of artist Piet Mondrian and inspired by a Yves Saint Laurent dress from 1965.
Enthralled with Mondrian, I couldn't resist this lovely Mini ITX PC. Besides being downright beautiful, it's loaded with competent components. Inside is a Core i3 processor and a 256GB solid-state drive, and it makes hardly a sound, cooling itself with a single 80mm fan that's assisted by highly efficient heat-sinks.
Take a look at Stephenson's site, and you'll get an idea of the creative and artistic workmanship he executes with every one of his examples, winners of numerous competitions. Custom building these computers with his own hands makes them expensive - he doesn't usually talk price - but I'm sure he would build one for you for a certain lofty fee.
6. SpaceX Dragon Docks With International Space Station
What a week for SpaceX! After a flawless launch, delicate pirouettes in low-Earth orbit, a rendezvous with the space station, some serious grappling and now docking, the private space company headed up by Elon Musk made history.
Opening the Hatch
And on Saturday, the crowning achievement: opening up the door to a commercial space vehicle docked with the International Space Station. And it's not just for fun, either - the Dragon spacecraft was packed with supplies for the space outpost.
Now if these intrepid pioneers can bring the spacecraft safely back to Earth, all the mission objectives will be fulfilled. Welcome to a new era in space flight.
7. Russia, Japan Moon Presence
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, HomeGrownGraphics
In the midst of all this space progress, talk and imaginations turned back to the moon, with Russia and Japan the biggest talkers about a moon base at the Global Space Exploration Conference on Tuesday.
Russia's been talking about a moon base for a while now, to almost deaf ears at NASA (which is now more interested in traveling to asteroids). Meanwhile, Japan has already sent a few orbiting probes to the moon, and announced at the conference that the moon is "our next target for human exploration."
Talk is cheap. Sending humans to walk (or even live) on other heavenly bodies might not be as easy as it looks. Will Japanese and Russian astronauts set up housekeeping on the moon before NASA touches down on an asteroid?
8. Sonos SUB
I've tested the entire line of Sonos wireless speakers, and they can deliver ultra-high quality sound to numerous locations in the home. My only complaint? Not quite enough bass for my taste, but now Sonos claims to solve that problem with the Sonos SUB.
Connect the US$699 Sonos SUB to a Wi-Fi network, and this massive 36.3-lb speaker plays nicely with any of the other Sonos products, adding serious bottom to the other speakers' already convincing mid-range sound and shimmering and gorgeous highs.
Sure, Sonos speakers aren't cheap, but in this case, you get what you pay for. I'm looking forward to hearing this beautifully-designed sub-woofer when it's available in June.
9. Hypo Spray
Constantly envious of those Star Trek hypo spray injectors every time I went to the doctor when I was a kid, now that coveted concept has become a reality - thanks to MIT scientists.
This needle-less injection system shoots a intricately controllable jet of drugs to a precisely selectable depth, and it's said to be no more painful than a mosquito bite. It can even inject substances into eyes or ears, and can deliver medicines in their powdered form when refrigeration isn't an option.
Even if it's not completely painless, it sure beats getting stabbed with a needle.
10. C-1 Electric Vehicle
Is it a motorcycle? Is it a car? Yes to both. It's a two-wheeler with a gyroscope holding it upright - reminiscent of the gyroscopically stabilized Segway. To me, the C-1 looks like the love child of a motorcycle and a pint-sized electric car, but I like it.
C-1 Electric Vehicle 2
This electric urban vehicle's makers claim an extraordinary range of up to 220 miles per charge.
C-1 Electric Vehicle 3
After you've charged up in a relatively quick 4 to 6 hours, it can zip along at 120 mph.
C-1 Electric Vehicle 4
It's not exactly roomy inside, but then, that's how it gets that tremendous efficiency.
C-1 Electric Vehicle 5
No need to open up the doors and put your legs on the ground when you're at a stoplight, because its gyroscopes keep it upright, supposedly even when there's a collision.
C-1 Electric Vehicle 6
If you want to accommodate a passenger, it's a decidedly motorcycle-like affair. Want one? Its makers say it'll cost between US$12,000 and US$16,000, available sometime in late 2014.
Top image: Leap Gesture-Based Computing
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