Have Laptop Will Travel

Digital Cameras with Built-In Printers

Originally posted on January 30, 2007 @ 11:53 am

A startup called Zink and the venerable Polaroid are working on a digital version of the Poloroid camera – a digital camera with a built-in printer.

They’re not actually building the camera but developing technology that miniaturizes printers small enough to fit in digital cameras.

Zink portable printer

The secret is that, instead of ink, the paper itself is capable of turning any color and the printer heads simply tell each “pixel” on the paper what color to turn.

Full Story Via CNET.

The World’s First Life Form

Originally posted on January 10, 2007 @ 11:46 am

PleoThis morning I was introduced to Pleo, a Ugobe Life Form which is basically the Furby of the future… well kind of…

It’s very modern in what it does compared to the Furby but this isn’t a cute little Gremlin looking thing, it’s a long extinct Camarasaurus, a dinosaur from the Jurassic period.

So what is a Camarasaurus? CAMARASAURUS (KAM-ah-rah-sawr-us) “Chambered Lizard” (Greek kamara = chamber + sauros = lizard, referring to the holes in its vertebrae).

Can a long-extinct species be resurrected? Ugobe designers and engineers studied the long extinct Camarasaurus, a dinosaur from the Jurassic period. Pleo, a Ugobe Life Form is the authentic recreation born from that study. UGOBE’s designers and engineers recreated Pleo’s physiology from the fossils of the original. His height and weight are consistent with that of a one-week old infant camarasuarus.

Pleo is a ‘designer species’. He incorporates all the basic traits of autonomous life. He is specifically engineered and enhanced to mimic life and relate to his owner on a personal level.

Pleo is equipped with senses for sight, sound, and touch. He learns as he explores his environment. He will exhibit genuine reactions to sensory stimuli.

Every Pleo begins life with certain tendencies but, interaction with his environment has subtle effects on his behavior. Every Pleo eventually exhibits a unique personality.

This little creature is capable of expression. Apparently it can feel joy and sorrow, anger and annoyance.

When Pleo is tired, he will become drowsy and go to sleep – even dream and just like with Furby’s, if you put two or more Pleos together, they will recognize one another. Yikes.

The more I look into this thing, it’s a lot like a Furby for sure. Be careful though. They can transmit colds to each other. Achoo! Pleo even sneezes!

I found a YouTube video with a running time of 5 minutes 31 seconds of this thing in action. Check it out if you dare.

Philips to blow gamers, literally

Originally posted on January 11, 2007 @ 11:14 am

amBX DemoPhilips has announced a collection of hardware that works together to enhance the PC gaming experience.

This gear will “blow gamers away: literally,” Philips’ big wig, Stewart Muller, told Games Industry.

“What you have is a wall-washer, which displays 16 million colours behind the computer screen. You have two desk fans which blow at different intensity levels depending on what’s happening in the game. You have two satellite speakers with integrated lights.”

amBX LogoHe also added there is a wrist-rumbler and subwoofer but these weren’t demonstrated.

The technology is called Ambient Experience, whose rather hip self would prefer to be called amBX. It seems that everyone is getting on the web 2.0 name bandwagon.

It’s a system which aims to deliver more sensory experiences to games and, in fact, other forms of entertainment.

According to Philips, the amBX hardware works “in harmony with the game to deliver a new sensory experience.”

These brand-new experiences include audio, surround lighting, vibration, and airflow.

It takes what’s pretty much a ‘virtual’ activity, games, DVDs, music and turns it into a far more tangible, immersive experience.

To find out more about this technology, visit the official amBX website.