Hasta La Gadget!

Counting out nickels and dimes at the cash register as you pay for your overpriced coffee is quickly becoming fodder for back-in-my-day stories. Ever since Starbucks debuted Square Wallet payments last November, the pay-by-phone approach has proved to be a popular strategy. According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, mobile purchases now account for 10 percent of the chain’s transactions, a number higher than many would have expected. Considering that Starbucks announced yesterday that it would soon introduce wireless charging to a handful of locations in Silicon Valley, it looks like the company is determined to build its growing street tech cred.

Filed under: Misc, Mobile

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Via: The Wall Street Journal

Remember the names Martin Kaltenbrunner and Takao Someya — that way, you’ll have someone to blame when kids start pointing and laughing at gadgets we consider high-tech today. Leading a team of University of Tokyo researchers, they have recently developed a flexible, skin-like material that can detect pressure while also being virtually indestructible. Think of the possibilities: with a thickness of one nanometer, this could be used to create a second skin that can monitor your vital signs or medical implants that you can barely feel, if at all. Also, temperature sensors could be added to make life-like skin for prosthetics… or even robots! Like other similar studies, however, the researchers have a long journey ahead before we see this super-thin material in medicine. Since it could lead to bendy gadgets and wearable electronics first, don’t be surprised if your children call iPhones “so 2013″ in the not-too-distant future.

Filed under: Misc, Alt

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Via: iO9, ABC Science, New Scientist

Source: Nature

As we noted at the the end of the show last year, SIGGRAPH certainly delivers on the eye candy. From graphics demos to display tech and both 3D printing and motion capture, this is one trade show that offers a glimpse into the present and future of the industry when it comes to visual goods. Highlights include major component news from NVIDIA and Samsung while Dell’s 32-inch 4K display and the latest Disney Research project certainly nabbed our attention. The show ends today until we descend upon Vancouver next summer, but a gallery chock full of sights from the show floor and a roundup of the past few days should tide you over until then.

Filed under: Announcements, Displays, Misc

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Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology.

I was listening to someone, somewhere, on something — not really sure where, and it doesn’t matter — but someone said that they’d rather be alone than have friends who make them feel alone. It’s probably been said by many people in many different ways, but for some reason, that saying has attached itself to me as I engage in my twice-daily social networking while comparing it to what I’m actually doing in my downtime that doesn’t qualify as “work.”

Social networks make us feel alone. I’m not claiming to be the first to notice this, but now that there’s a social network for pictures, for videos, for 140-character updates, for business networking, for food, for our pets…

Filed under: Misc, Internet, Facebook

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If you’re hoping to get some more tactile feedback out of augmented reality environments, the folks at Disney Research have devised the AIREAL system that could end up doing just that. The team is showing off the project at SIGGRAPH’s Emerging Technologies space, so we made sure to stop by for a look and feel. As quick refresher, the technology reacts to the user’s gestures by churning out a vortex of air to provide tactile feedback in real space — thanks to an almost entirely 3D printed enclosure and a smattering of actuators and depth senors. In the demo we saw, hovering our hand just over a display summoned a butterfly.

Once it landed, that small bit of air offered up the physical sensation that it was actually touching us. As we moved closer to a virtual open window, wings went a flutter and the whole sensation increased a bit. Sure, what we saw was a fairly simple use scenario, but there are aspirations for this to enhance gaming experiences and other augmented environments (likely within the confines of a Disney park, of course) with the addition of haptic feedback. Looking for a bit more info? Consult the video after the break for just that.

Filed under: Misc

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