Wild Charge, eCoupled, Zink, Polymer Vision, Hymini, Human Locator. Haven’t heard of them yet? You will, if their future tech vision becomes reality. So, let’s take a look at the future.
Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Power Cords: The Charging Pad
When your laptop runs out of juice, you have to whip out the power cord for a recharge. But what if there is nowhere to plug in? Wireless charging is just around the corner. The technology exists in the form of inductive and conductive charging. Leaving out the techno-babble it means you simply place your laptop over a charging pad and bam! your powered up. Sweet.
Who to watch: WildCharge and eCoupled, Hymini (wind powered green charger).
Pass Me Your Cell Phone, I Need to Print This: Built in Printer
It can be frustrating to need to print something and have to wait until you get to your printer. Not much longer. Very soon you will be able to print from a built-in printer in your laptop or even your cell phone. Yup.
Who to watch: Zink.
Is that a Computer in Your Pocket or Are You Just Glad to See Me?: Flexible screens
Readius from Polymer Vision
We like tiny for portability but want bigger for visuals. Soon we will have our cake and eat it too. The new wave of computer screens will be flexible. You can fold them and put them in your pocket. Whip it out when you need to.
Who to watch: Polymer Vision.
Put Down a Coaster, Please: Surface Computing
Every business office will have a touch computer screen built into tables, walls, or other type of flat surface. Bars and nightclubs should be early adopters. And real estate offices. And JVC has one you don’t even have to touch– hand gestures do the trick. Touche
Who to watch: Microsoft, Apple (who else); JVC
Don’t Blink, You’ll Miss the Download: 100 Gigabit network connections
Internet2 craves speed. With network connection speeds clocked at 100Gbps (10 times faster than broadband), your favorite movie will be downloaded before you can take a pee.
Who to watch: Level 3 Communications, Inc. (I bought my shares)
Did You Smell that Ad? Olfactory advertising
Kaoru Digital Sign (smell me)
We wrote about sound emitting billboards in this post (talking urinal ads here) and motion detecting ads here. But the emerging field of “scent marketing” moves ahead with digital aromatic signs. They will emit various smells (using aroma diffusers) to entice consumers. Others say it’s just another way for ads to stink.
Who to watch: NTT Communications (October 17, 2007 Press Release here.)
Website on a Business Card: Video rCard
Paper business cards? How quaint. This futuristic video business card holds 1 gig of flash memory for video, slide shows, photos and text. A definite attention grabber for any business. Custom skins carry your brand. RFID technology is a future add-on. See post here.
Who to watch: CEOIQ.
Now, if they can only invent a healthy cigarette. Oh wait, they have.
What cool tech stuff have you come across?
Sources: AP; PCMagazine (November 2007); Crave, the C/Net blog (one of the best if you crave the future)
Technorati Tags: future technology, microsoft surface, zink, ecoupled, Level 3, Wild charge, Apple, Polymer Vision
