Thursday, October 18, 2007

Top 10 Most Brilliant Gadgets of 2007

Popular Mechanics has released their list of Top 10 Most Brilliant Gadgets of 2007.

1. Microsoft Surface : This tabletop computer uses "multi-touch" technology to let several users, employing their fingers, manipulate images and other data right on the screen-no keyboard or mouse needed.

2. Dow SafeTouch Fiberglass-Free Insulation : This is a plastic fiber batt insulation from Dow Chemical that has the same R-value as fiberglass without any of the dust and itching problems.

3. Samsung Solid State Drive : Flash memory is far speedier and, because it has no moving parts, is resistant to mechanical failure. Samsung’s new Solid State Drives are essentially big bundles of flash memory-up to 64GB-that replace traditional hard drives.

4. Ford Sync : Ford’s $395 in-car infotainment system is essentially a small computer running the Microsoft Auto operating system that wirelessly integrates all of your mobile gadgets.

5. Zonbu Zonbox : Zonbu offers its compact Zonbox PC for $99 with a two-year, $15 per month plan, which includes 50GB of online storage and one of the best the best tech support policies: If the box fails, the Silicon Valley startup will overnight a new one.

6. GM, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, BMW Two-Mode Hybrid : GM, BMW and the former DaimlerChrysler joined forces three years ago to develop a scalable hybrid system that brings the fuel-saving technology to the masses of front- and rear-wheel-drive cars (and the trucks) that each manufacturer produces. The system locates two electric motors and four clutches inside the transmission to deliver multiple combinations of gearing and electric propulsion.

7. Nintendo Wii Fit : The Wii Fit, a soon-to-be-released suite of games that uses a $70 weight- and balance-sensing Balance Board, does everything from analyzing posture to revealing how bad you actually are at yoga. It turns fitness into a game, instead of a chore.

8. Hitachi Power Tools CR13VBY : This $159 saw uses a counterweight mechanism that dampens vibration, reportedly by more than 65 percent. Hitachi calls it User Vibration Protection, and in PM testing, it dramatically reduced operator fatigue and arguably improved safety.

9. Apple iPhone : This revolutionary phone needs no introduction. Check it out here.

10. LG Super Blu Player : LG has created a safe haven for early adopters of HDTV. The Super Blu Player ($1000) plays both HD DVDs and Blu-ray discs, and it upscales regular DVDs to hi-def resolutions.

Read the full article at Top 10 Most Brilliant Gadgets of 2007

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Seven Wonders of the IT World

CIO.com recently released their list of Seven Wonders of the IT World and following made to it:

1. Floating eye at the top of the world is the computer closest to the North Pole and is managed by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory.

2. NASA's Voyager 1 satellite is the computer farthest from Earth. Voyager is three times farther away than Pluto.

3. Google's data center in The Dalles, Oregon has a hydroelectric dam for power and two four-story cooling towers, to name a few among its intriguing attrations.

4. The E-sciencE II (EGEE-II) project is the world's largest scientific grid computing project.

5. IBM's BlueGene/L (BGL) is the world's fastest supercomputer and is powered by 65,536 dual-processor computer nodes.

6. OQO, Model 02 is the smallest PC to run Windows Vista.

7. Linux kernel


Read the full article at Seven Wonders of the IT World