Hasta La Gadget!

Many of us have had the misfortune of receiving a package that has been roughhoused in transit, and we might not have even realized it until we burrowed through the cardboard and tape. Cambridge Consultants’ upcoming DropTag might just serve as the insurance we need. The badge can detect a drop or other violent motion, like earlier sensors, but carries Bluetooth 4.0 to transmit data and alerts in real-time to a mobile app, whether it’s on the courier’s smartphone or a tablet at home. As one watch-grade battery could power the sensor for weeks, we could know whether the box took a tumble at the warehouse or at the door — a help not just for customers wanting their items intact, but for companies that can avoid delivering already-broken goods. At less than $2 in raw costs, DropTags would be cheap enough to slap on many packages. We just need Cambridge to line up clients to make this a reality and, just possibly, prevent a few overly hasty couriers from long-bombing our orders.

Filed under: Misc

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Source: Cambridge Consultants

There’s finally resolution to a case that dates back almost three years, in which chip subcontractor Applied Materials was accused of stealing semiconductor secrets from Samsung and supplying them to its arch chip rival SK Hynix. According to Korean media outlets YTN and Yonhap, one Samsung employee along with two SK Hynix workers and one of its subcontractors received suspended prison sentences of up to a year with two years of probation. Eighteen defendants from Samsung, SK Hynix and Applied Materials were originally charged, but no high-level management employees were reported to be involved. Applied Materials and Samsung arrived at a civil settlement late in 2010, so this seems to put a wrap on the entire sordid affair.

Filed under: Misc, Samsung

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Source: YTN, Yonhap

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

We can all agree that technology is pretty cool. It allows us to communicate with one another, entertain ourselves, meet new people, learn new things and even find love and health. We love to discover new technologies, see it do amazing things and get a glimpse of the future. We, the early adopters, are pioneers, beta testers and happy to be first in line. This is all good.

But despite our hammering, our pleas and our shouts from the tops of the greatest blogs we know, some bad things just don’t change. When I say “bad things,” I’m talking about two annoying little facts of technology that, in my opinion, don’t need to be so painful. These are things we can and should fix.

Perhaps we’re not heard loudly enough, or perhaps the technology isn’t there to fix what we want, or maybe the manufacturers have better things to do. Whatever it is, let’s list those things out here, perhaps so that some engineer or product designer will read this and think, “Why, yes… Yes. I should fix this.”

Filed under: Misc, Peripherals, Software

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So, what were we doing? Oh yeah, blogging — fortunately, Focus@Will understands our inability to concentrate 100 percent of the time during an eight hour day, and is now going into public beta with a music service app designed to make things better. The company says it helps productivity by perking up your limbic system at specific intervals with “scientifically and artistically curated” music that keeps you from pondering “danger, food, sex or shiny things” instead of working. You can choose from eight music categories like classical, cinematic or “alpha chill,” including many new compositions created since the private beta launched in December. The company’s also refined its “focus genome” algorithms since then, which help choose tunes based on user feedback in a similar manner to Pandora’s Music Genome Project. If you’re in the US, you can grab the cross-platform HTML5 app now at the source below, with iOS and Android apps coming soon. Still with us? Good.

Filed under: Misc, Software

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Source: Focus@Will

While it was never the most original take on powerful commercial hand driers, the Dyson AirBlade has nevertheless been an admirable piece of public restroom kit. Now seven years since its official debut, the company’s refreshed the super-charged water dissipator to be 5.5-pounds lighter, dubbing it the AirBlade mk2. Taking things a step further, a new V-shaped model can output the same 420mph blower speed in a package that’s roughly sixty-percent smaller.

Dyson didn’t stop there, though, as its Tap model brings the tech straight to the faucet. The stainless steel enclosure houses the same 1,400-watt DC brushless motor as the previous models, dispersing HEPA-filtered “sheets” of air through a single laser-cut slit in each of two wings that extend from the Tap’s sides. The silenced, carbon fiber-enclosed motor is positioned away from the sink whether it’s on a wall or a counter, leaving only the streamlined faucet in view. More interesting yet, we’re told it reaches 92,000RPM in about 0.7 seconds! Of course, the system is totally automated, with infrared sensors for the water and dryer portions. Sure, over-engineered does come to mind, but we can’t say we wouldn’t be giddy to get our mitts under one at some point.

As it stands, hand-washing connoisseurs can begin placing orders for the Tap come February 5th, and the others in May. For now, you can get your hands dirty (clean?) by clicking past the break for the obligatory detailed press release and video demo.

Filed under: Misc, Household

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