Just because it’s the middle of summer doesn’t mean the tech world grinds to a halt. To the contrary! I’m gone for a couple of weeks and I come back and discover that technology innovation has exploded.
What happened? Well, tons of ideas blasted to the forefront, such as a super-fast plane design, a memory breakthrough, an iPhone dock that literally rattles the rafters, and the introduction of a stalking drone aircraft that can be used by mere mortals such as you and me.
So don’t worry if you missed the week’s worth of tech that just went by - that’s why Top 10 Tech is here, showing you the best of the best.
1. Spy Hawk, the Stalking Drone for Civilians
Who says the government gets to do all the spying? Now you can keep an eye on whomever or whatever you want with the Spy Hawk, the cool-looking radio-controlled airplane with a 5-megapixel video camera and transmitter on board.
In the middle of the controller there's a 3.5" LCD on which you can watch the video transmitted from that eye in the sky, and the company says it works at distances of around 2,000 feet.
Update: And here I see it can record 4GB worth of video. Cool! It's available in August for US$389.
2. Mach 20 Hypersonic Aircraft On the Way
Those government spooks at DARPA have been working on perfecting the hypersonic aircraft for a long time, and their newest model, the X-plane (HX) will be ready for its first test by 2016.
Although this technology will probably first be used for exotic weaponry, these sophisticated military toys have a way of trickling down to the civilian world. When that happens, imagine traveling at 15,224 mph. Lunch date in Tahiti, here I come!
But wait. Don't start making vacation plans just yet - the Pentagon's last Mach 20 hypersonic jet streaked through the upper atmosphere so fast its skin ripped off, disintegrating the thing into tiny pieces. Back to the old drawing board.
3. 13-Inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display?
I can't rave enough about the excellence of my 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro, so that's why it's hard for me to contain my excitement about rumours mentioning its upcoming 13-inch little brother.
Will we see another version of these super-sharp laptops from the future "before October?" Besides the usual plethora of rumours, MacRumors found a tantalizing clue: Someone was benchmarking one of the machines using the Geekbench 2 benchmark which published its results online, leaving a tell-tale sign that the pint-size Retina laptop could be on the way.
4. Google Predicts Self-Driving Cars For All
Just think of what the world will be like when self-driving cars are super-dependable and ubiquitous. The day when you can read Mashable while driving (please don't tell me you're already doing that) might be closer than you think, if Google Chairman Eric Schmidt has his way.
Schmidt said at a conference that he believes "self-driving cars should become the predominant mode of transportation in our lifetime." I think he's right, but that depends on whose lifetime you're talking about. I'd say give it 10 years before you can buy such a marvel of technology.
Google Predicts Self-Driving Cars For All
Before too long, we'll look back at the days we drove cars ourselves as crazy, risky and barbaric. However, I think the technology will be ready quite a few years before people are, and I don't think it will be at its best until almost all cars are capable of driving themselves.
5. Memory Breakthrough
Why should we care about a geeky thing like a memory breakthrough? Here's why: You could fit 50 petabytes of data onto a solid-state drive that's the size of one of today's 1TB spinning drives.
That means someday soon, you might have more available storage than you could ever possibly fill up.
The geniuses at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have accomplished this magic by extreme miniaturization, making it so that one bit of data can be stored on a single molecule. It's mind-boggling.
6. Apollo Shirt is Cool, Literally
Here's a shirt made out of a new kind of fabric, and its makers claim it can "literally control your body temperature." And, this talented fabric can wick moisture away from your body, control odours with embedded silver threads, and is flexible enough to move with you all day long.
The MIT scientists who created the fabric added even more coolness, including its ability to stay wrinkle-free, and hey, they're even saying you don't need to wash it as often - but that's something I wouldn't take too far. Too bad the first product using this wonder fabric is a shirt costing US$110.
The best news is, this Kickstarter project has already been fully funded as of four days ago, and now it's going to turn into a real shirt you can wear on your own back. Perhaps if this is successful, economies of scale will kick in, making this smart fabric a mainstay of sultry summer days.
7. Million-Year Hard Drive Made of Sapphire
Data on hard drives, photos, and almost every relic of our civilization might be turned to dust 1 million years from now. But not this hard disk made of sapphire, which scientists say can preserve data for 1 million years.
The sapphire disk actually consists of two 8-inch platters, onto which approximately 40,000 tiny images and text are etched onto one side using platinum. Then those two discs are molecularly fused together, creating a nearly impermeable bond that should shield the data for 1 million years. The scientists speculate this disc might be able to even last longer than that, perhaps 10 million years.
If our million-year descendants (or perhaps aliens? ) find this disc, all they will need is a microscope to read its contents - well, they'll need to have the ability to decipher our current-day hieroglyphics. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this project will be what information is placed on those 40,000 pages, and at a cost of US$30,600 for each disc, will all of civilization's knowledge be placed on numerous disks such as this?
8. Trash Receptacle Only Accepts Doggy Poop Bags
If you've walked around a busy park lately, you might notice some areas have turned into doggy doo minefields. Here's a design concept that makes it a whole lot easier to dispose of such waste, and this receptacle is built in such a way that it can only be used for one thing: poop bags.
Trash Receptacle Only Accepts Doggy Poop Bags
Take a look at how it works, and you'll see that there is a narrow slot into which you can slide that bag, preventing other trash such as bee-attracting soda cans to gum up the works. Neat idea.
Doggy Trash Receptacle
9. Ion ISP17 Room Rocker
When the people at Ion pitched this Bluetooth iPad, iPhone and iPod dock to me, the words "Room Rocker" certainly caught my attention. "We shall see," said I, agreeing to a review of this handsomely styled speaker.
Ion ISP17 Room Rocker 2
Little did I know that when I plugged it in, effortlessly paired up my iPhone and iPad, and fired up a couple of drum-and-bass tunes, the thing was capable of just about literally knocking my socks off with its super-fat bass. It was actually able to blow out a candle sitting behind it, with its bass port pumping prodigious air, all driven by the wallop of 40 Watts of serious power.
The down-firing sub-woofer on the bottom rocked the table so much that it transferred into the house's structure, rattling the rafters and causing the entire abode to rock 'n roll. While it was not that great at playing jazz or classical selections - too much bass for those - for the task of absolutely rocking the Casbah, it was most definitely what the doctor ordered. The thing is downright danceable.
Ion ISP17 Room Rocker 3
If you want to fill the room with sound from your iOS device - or from any other audio player with a headphone jack - the Room Rocker is aptly named. Not a bad deal for US$249.95, now available for pre-order and shipping within a few weeks.
10. Touch Skin Watch
OLED displays are getting more cost-effective, and here's a design concept that takes advantage of a time in the near future when we will see OLEDs everywhere.
Touch Skin Watch 2
The Touch Skin Watch has a snazzy charger to keep it powered up every night, and a chameleon-like face that can mimic any watch face or graphic you can possibly imagine.
Touch Skin Watch 3
Its multi-touch interface can show you either the time when you touch it with one finger, the date when you touch it with two fingers, or if you touch the screen with three fingers, it cycles through the various skins you have installed.
Touch Skin Watch 4
There's even a shadow cast on the numerals of the watch, matching up with the time of day. Designer Niels Astrup is aiming high with the watch's hardware, planning to equip this wrist computer with a multicore processor, perhaps something along the lines of the Nvidia Tegra type II or III chip.
Touch Skin Watch 5
The 16-million-colour round OLED display will sit atop an anodized aluminium case, with the entire device weighing approximately 80g, just shy of 3 ounces.
Touch Skin Watch 6
This is just one example of how the onslaught of OLEDs will change our lives. Stay tuned, because we'll be seeing curved display designs galore, wallpaper made of OLED screen material, and even clothing that doubles as a display. This swanky looking watch is just the beginning.
Touch Skin Watch 7
Top image: Predicted Retina display in 2012 MacBook
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