Kindle Library Lending

Announced today April 20, 2011 Amazon's Kindle will finally support library lending.

Later this year, Kindle owners and those who run Amazon's Kindle apps will be able to borrow books from over 11,000 local libraries.  While playing catch-up with the Nook and Sony Reader, Amazon needed a way to differeniate their Kindle lending among the competition.  Jay Marine, Amazon Kindle's director states, "Normally, making margin notes in library books is a big no-no. But we're extending our Whispersync technology so that you can highlight and add margin notes to Kindle books you check out from your local library. Your notes will not show up when the next patron checks out the book. But if you check out the book again, or subsequently buy it, your notes will be there just as you left them, perfectly Whispersynced."

I'm sure Amazon will see great benefits from their Kindle sales by adding this library lending feature.  I personally know a handful of people that were opposed to purchasing the Kindle for this particular reason and chose to buy a Sony Reader instead.

Direct Wi-FI is a threat to Bluetooth

You may soon be able to transfer content between Wi-Fi-enabled devices in your home or office without having to set up a Wi-Fi router. In October of 2010, industry association Wi-Fi Alliance began certifying consumer electronic gadgets that can connect directly to other Wi-Fi devices. The technology is, in effect, an alternative to Bluetooth wireless connectivity.

Devices marked with the new Wi-Fi Direct label can connect to older Wi-Fi devices. Mobile phones, cameras, printers, PCs and gaming devices can now connect to each other directly to transfer content and share applications. Devices can make a one-to-one connection, or a group of several devices can connect simultaneously. How this might work: Your Wi-Fi Direct device will signal to other devices in the area that it can make a connection. You can view available devices and ask them to connect, or you might receive an invitation to connect to another Wi-Fi Direct device.

Chipmakers including Intel, Broadcom and Atheros have already announced Wi-Fi Direct products. If Wi-Fi Direct takes off, Bluetooth’s is looking to have a dim future...

Boom in Tablet Market

Apple and other electronics makers will generate $49 billion in sales of tablet computers by 2015, amid booming demand for devices that bridge the gap between smartphones and laptops. The strategic trend here is for personal and mobile computing to shift away from keyboards to touchscreens. The tablet may surpass all other consumer electronic devices by sales, except for personal computers and TVs.

When tablet developers begin gearing devices more toward content creation than consumption, the market may easily extend beyond $49 billion. It can be assumed that at least for the next couple of years, Apple will be the leader. This is going to be a fast-growing market and there's going to be a lot of announcements over the next one-to-two years, but very few of them are actually going to survive in the long run.  While tablet prices will begin to decline in about two years, Apple's "aggressive" pricing leaves little room for rivals to cut prices significantly.

Double Screened Phones

No one's really excited by a slide-out keyboard anymore, but you'd be surprised about much attention Sprint's Echo is getting for it's double-screen feature.

At first glance, the Kyocera Echo from Sprint looks like a normal Android touch-screen smartphone—although a chunky one. But a special hinge allows the Echo's top screen to shift up, over and snap down beside a second screen hidden beneath. The two screens correspond with each other to create what looks like one large screen, but one that also allows a different app to run on each screen, or display two activities from the same app on each screen.

The seven apps that can run in what Kyocera calls Simul-Task Mode—a different app on each screen—include email, Web browsing, contacts, gallery, phone, messaging and VueQue—a way of showing YouTube videos on one screen and a queue of upcoming videos on the other. For Simul-Task, users must simultaneously tap a finger on each screen, which displays a menu on both screens showing the seven apps. Each screen will run the app that's selected on it.

 

More Facebook on Smart Phones

I'm talking about RockMelt, the latest  Web browser that continuously displays information from Facebook, Twitter and news feeds on the left and right edges of its browser window. It lets users instantly share Web content with their social networks, or chat with Facebook friends without ever opening the Facebook site. And RockMelt, which was released to the public last month, runs on the same technical underpinnings as the Google Chrome browser, giving it the ability to run any of Google's 3,700 Web Store apps within the browser.

A fan favorite feature of the RockMelt app is that it and the PC Web browser are constantly synchronized. This means any new bookmarks or news feeds I added on either the PC or the iPhone, or any articles marked as View Later—a helpful tool that saves links for accessing at a later time— will be mirrored on both platforms within seconds.

However there is a slight drawback for the mobile version: a dynamic search function and friends. The PC version of RockMelt has a search box that automatically includes your Facebook friends in each search and suggests links to Web content in a drop-down screen as you go. The mobile app's search is limited to a simple Google search box.But the mobile app is missing two key chunks that make this browser so socially comprehensive on the PC: a dynamic search function and friends. The PC version of RockMelt has a search box that automatically includes your Facebook friends in each search and suggests links to Web content in a drop-down screen as you go. The mobile app's search is limited to a simple Google search box.

Tracking Down Email Addresses

The tool called Peepmail, created by Samy Kamkar who is known for the 2005 virus that took down myspace, promises to deliver email addresses for everyone from Steve Jobs to the random guy's business card you lost. Many email servers will tell the sender whether the address is valid, even before the message is sent.

When a user enters the name and company into Peepmail, the program tests permutations of the name until the company's email server responds with a message that indicates the address is valid. Before any emails go through, the program aborts the communication, so the person being looked up doesn't know it's happening.

I guess we don't have much privacy left these days..

Smarter Appliances

Samsung Electronics wants to become the biggest U.S. large-household-appliance brand by making refrigerators smarter. Samsung and LG Electronics aim to carry over their leadership in products such as cell phones, TVs, and personal computers into the development of household items that can be remotely turned on and off, connect with repair staff, display recipes, or play music. Smart appliances will completely replace traditional machines by 2020.

Right now Whirlpool has 41.5 percent of U.S. appliance sales, while Samsung holds less than 1 percent of the market and LG has 8.7 percent.  Samsung's U.S. appliance sales have jumped sixfold in the past four years, making it one of the fastest-growing brands in that market, Senior Vice-President James Politeski says. One new refrigerator features separate temperature and humidity settings for different compartments. "Our goal is to be the No. 1 appliance brand in the U.S.," Politeski says.

Baseball Tech Updates

Professional sports teams are attempting at a furious rate to lure fans away from the comfort of their couches to live games. And sweet technological upgrades to their home venues become a bigger selling point every year.

Phillies fans will get to watch live game action on a new 76-by-97-foot LED high-def scoreboard in left field. The old scoreboard, which was installed for Citizen Bank Park's 2004 debut, has been relocated to the Phils' spring training facility in Clearwater, Florida. The team partnered with Daktronics and Sony Electronics' System Solutions Group on the new 84,000-square-foot 'board, whose 2.9 million pixels dwarfs the former scoreboard's 459,000-pixel display.

Fans get to view one of the clearest scoreboards in the world. Its HD-15 display and 1,512 lines of resolution surpass that of the standard for 1080p HD video boards, and its LED technology allows it to show up to 144 quadrillion shades of color.

Citizens Bank Park's in-house video departments were also improved from standard to HD, including the video-coaching facility. Mark DiNardo, the Phillies' director of broadcasting and video services, told Wired.com the upgrade will most benefit the scouting and self-analysis performed by the team's coaches and players. "They voiced a concern to upgrade," DiNardo said, "and our management heard that concern."

GOO PHILS!!  :)

Smaller Social Networks

How many people do you know with over 300 facebook friends? Most likely, a lot. 

Newer more private social networking sites are being developed to connected with a smaller group of people.  Sites like "Path", users are only allowed about 50 friends or so to only share intimate details with a more controlled group of people.  Additionally more sites are beginning for other uses like moms looking for playdates, RedRover and people wanting to chat in text message groups, Group.me.

After recently being launched in November, "Path" already has hundreds of thousands of users and has accepted about $11.2 million in funding.  The only question now is how long will these sites last? Could they be the next big thing? Or just fads, like MySpace, that people will get bored of and move on to something else?  For now they're all the rage!

Squeaky Clean Robots

As a child, did you ever want a robot around to help you do your chores?  I know i did! Now there actually is a technological device that is taking care of cleaning floors, something nobody ever wants to do!

Scooba, a product from iRobot priced in a $300 package, is less than half the size and weight of its larger and pricier predecessors, giving it the ability to scoot into tough-to-reach spots, like behind most bathroom toilets, gross. This device is smart enough to separate clean water from dirty water as it goes—instead of just regurgitating the same water and pushing it across the floor, like a mop. Loading the robot with water and cleaning solution takes just a minute, robbing even the laziest people of an excuse for not cleaning. And its compact size makes it easy to store.  Scooba comes with four removable bottom plates, which are plastic pieces that hold its squeegee and brushes, and four packets of cleaning solution. The solution costs $12 a bottle when purchased separately, and one bottle lasts for 64 cleanings. Two small, battery-powered devices called Virtual Walls also come with the Scooba. When the power is on, these devices project a beam that Scooba won't cross, so they can be placed in front of an opened door or set up to restrict the robot to a certain area in one room.

Sounds like a dream come true right?  The only downfall this device seems to have in comparison with it's earlier models is that it doesn't have the ability to vaccuum prior to scrubbing floors.  So the user would actually have to make themselves useful and sweep before allowing the device to maneuver and clean around the room.

Ford's Technology Plans for the Future...

Ford's Sync is an infotainment system based on Microsoft Corp. software that pairs with a driver's Bluetooth phone. Sync initially was designed to control music devices and cell phones.

Mark Fields, Ford's President, speaking at the Automotive News World Congress, said Ford plans to develop more entertainment, infotainment, navigation, cell phone connectivity, and Wi-Fi technologies for its car and light-truck lineup. Fields said 46 percent of Sync owners want Wi-Fi in their next vehicle.

Navigation remains the most desired in-vehicle technology among consumers, he said, followed by the ability to integrate a cell phone in the car for hands-free communication.

Ford will hire 750 salaried engineers, software architecture designers, and other technology experts this year as part of its effort to bring new vehicles and new technology to market. The company sees wider profits and a chance to attract more 18- to 24-year-old consumers by offering more in-vehicle technology. Fields says, "

These people are game-changers, addressing a whole new generation of consumer needs and desires".