Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on April 18, 2006 by CyberNet.

Microsoft has started to work on a solution that will compete with Google’s recent patent of voice search technology. Microsoft’s photo searching, called Photo2Search, will allow cell phone users to quickly query the web just by snapping a photo.

It actually sounds really useful, because imagine you are on a vacation in Walt Disney World, Florida. You are walking into the Magic Kingdom and want to know what the popular rides are. So you take a snapshot of Magic Kingdom’s Castle, send it off to Microsoft, and Microsoft returns search results related to Magic Kingdom. You were able to do all of that in the matter of a few seconds without having to fuddle around with the near-deadly cell phone keyboard.

Microsoft definitely has a very useful idea here. I wouldn’t be surprised to see other companies like Yahoo and Google start to attack the cell phone market more aggressively.

Microsoft Photo2Search News Page
News Source: eWeek

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The government of Laos is hoping to utilize its natural resources to boost the economy, starting with a hydropower dam in the Mekong river. Unfortunately, while the dam will give the country a financial boost, it also endangers the native species, including four of the 10 largest freshwater fish in the world, which make the Mekong their home.

The majority of the energy produced by the proposed dam–somewhere around 90 percent–would be sold to neighboring countries. According to Viraphone Viravong, director general of the country’s energy and mines department, the energy produced and sold from this and future dams could account for 20 percent of Laos’ GDP. “We don’t want to be poor any more,” Viravong said. “If we want to grow, we need this dam.”

The Mekong is home to an astounding array of very large fish, including the giant pangasius, the Siamese giant carp, and the Mekong freshwater stingray. But the most famous of all is the Mekong giant catfish, widely regarded as the largest freshwater fish in the world, with some measuring nearly three meters in length. The dam would likely threaten the existence of these and other fish who make the Mekong their home.

“This dam is the greatest challenge the MRC [Mekong River Commission] has faced since it was formed. It is the most serious test of its usefulness and relevance,” the WWF’s Marc Goichot said. “It is already very clear this dam would amplify and accelerate the negative impacts of Chinese dams to the Mekong delta. What are the other impacts?”

Via the Guardian.

Image courtesy National Geographic.

Just of the coast of Kent county in southeast England, lies what is now the world’s largest offshore wind farm. Officially opened at the end of last week, the new farm is expected to provide enough power for 200,000 homes.

At a cost of nearly $1.2 billion, the wind farm consists of 100 380ft turbines. Owned and operated by Swedish energy company Vattenfall, the farm is all part of the UK’s green initiative, which hopes to see it raise the amount of renewable energy used up to 15 percent by 2020. Currently, just three percent of the energy used in the UK comes from renewable sources.

“We are in a unique position to become a world leader in this industry,” UK Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said. “We are an island nation and I firmly believe we should be harnessing our wind, wave, and tidal resources to the maximum. I know that there is still more to do to bring forward the large sums of investment we want to see in low-carbon energy in the UK, and we as a government are committed to playing our part.”

The Kent wind farm joins approximately 250 others operating in the UK, which account for over 2,900 turbines in total.

Via BBC.

Hey, can’t fault ’em for trying! Volvo, which is widely recognized as one of the safer automakers on the planet, is apparently developing a new pedestrian avoidance system for its motorcars. The concept is pretty simple — if your car senses a human in the way of its path, it’s supposed to alert you, suggest you brake and generally help you avoid tacking a hit ‘n run onto your already impressive rap sheet. As you’ll so clearly see in the video embedded after the break, there’s a reason the automobile industry relies on dummies for crash testing. For what it’s worth, the test was successful the majority of the time, with this particular snafu blamed on improper placement of said dummy. Of course, we certainly hope no one at Volvo expects “improper placement of a human” to excuse the system once implemented in the real world…

Continue reading Volvo pedestrian avoidance test goes horribly, comically wrong (video)

Volvo pedestrian avoidance test goes horribly, comically wrong (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not a brand new concept or anything, but rather than forcing mobile users to scan QR codes in order to access more information about a given product or advertisement, Wizup is able to recognize far more esoteric items. Created as a part of the Windows Phone 7 developer challenge, this piece of software is able to listen to radio stations (at least in France), understand images from magazines and even recognize TV channels. Simply snap a picture or let it listen in (much like Shazam for song titles), and it then delivers all sorts of germane content to the mobile’s screen. It’s a dream come true for marketers, but better still, it makes digging for more information a whole lot easier on the end user. Head on past the break for a demonstration video — if you’ve been denying it thus far, good luck as you continue to resist the Augmented Reality Revolution.

Continue reading Wizup emerges from Windows Phone 7 developer challenge: think Shazam, but for ads

Wizup emerges from Windows Phone 7 developer challenge: think Shazam, but for ads originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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