No, it’s not a one way mirror. It’s much cooler than that. MIT scientists have invented a new invisible mirror that can show reflections like a typical mirror but also be see through like a window. The magic is in the alternating 84 ultra thin layers typical glass and tantalum oxide. It’s a mirror but when you spin it, it becomes transparent. Some light passes through, some light gets reflected.
It’s been a long train ride and you’re starting to get drowsy. So you lean a bit on the window and take in the scenery flashing by… when you suddenly hear a voice telling you about some new gadget or some recent markdowns.
This newest advertising marvel is aptly called the Talking Window and it was developed by Audiva.
It’s part of an advertising experiment from Germany’s BBDO for Sky Deutschland. The transmitter uses high-frequency vibrations and streams this onto the glass to send out the audio message. The vibrations are then interpreted as sound by the human brain. This technology is called “bone conduction” and is currently being used by deaf people, the military and Google Glass among other things.
The cool thing is that only the people seated next to the window can hear this message. The uncool thing is that it bugs most people who experience it, probably because their nap or rest time is being interrupted by a window that’s churning out ads.
In fact, if you look at the video closely, you’ll notice that the people who heard the messages look confused and somewhat irked. I know I would be.
It’s been a couple months since we first saw the fruits of team Paranoid Android’s labor around in-app pop-up window multitasking, and it looks like Paul Henschel and co. are finally sharing the finished product. HALO, as it’s called, loosely combines the ideas behind Samsung’s Multi Window and FaceBook’s Chat Heads into a slick multitasking interface. The feature is activated from the notification tray. It places an icon — or halo — on the display, which can be moved around very much like Chat Heads, or dismissed by double-tapping and dragging it towards the red X at the top. Swiping sideways from the halo shows a series of white lines and text bubbles that match and highlight the notifications in the status bar. Releasing your finger is like tapping on the selected notification, but instead of launching full-screen, the app opens in a pop-up window on top of whatever’s already running, just like Multi Window. The background app continues to run while you interact with the foreground app — to dismiss the pop-up window, simply tap outside of it. Other cool functionality includes swiping up to dismiss the last notification and the ability to pin apps permanently to the halo. But what’s really most exciting is that team Paranoid Android‘s decided to make HALO open source so anyone can be involved. Check out the awesome demo video after the break.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Samsung, Google, Facebook
Via: xda-developers
Source: Paranoid Android (Google+)
If you’re looking for a way to create a sense of privacy in your house – but don’t like the look of traditional window shades – there’s a new technology on the scene which creates instant privacy while still letting light in your windows.
SONTE is a special UV protective film you can apply to your windows that provides complete privacy. What’s really nifty about SONTE film is that it can be turned from semi-opaque to transparent with the push of a button – or using an app on your mobile device.
When electrical current is applied to the film, its transparency changes. When switched off (semi-opaque), only 5% of light is transmitted, and when on, it allows 70% of light through. When in its semi-opaque state, the film can even be used as a projection screen. Neat.
To install the film, simply cut it to fit your window, peel off the electrostatic cling adhesive backing, and position it on your window. A tiny conducting clip is attached to each sheet of film, and then connects to either a Wi-Fi transceiver or a direct switch.
SONTE is currently seeking to raise $200,000 over on Kickstarter to fund production of its film. You can get a 1-meter square piece of the film, including a non Wi-Fi switch for as little as $184 (USD). Prices start at $219 for the Wi-Fi version and go up from there, depending on the amount of film you want. The largest kit being offered is an 8-square-meter “daisy chain” kit, which lets you wire together multiple windows, and is going for just under $1500. If you just want to play with the tech before investing heavily, there’s also a Kickstarter exclusive sample sheet (non Wi-Fi) for just $65.
Check out these awesome window shades that put spaceships on your window and at the same time help isolate you from sunlight, with only your action figures and DVD collections to keep you company. I kid. I would love to have these on my window too, since I’m a huge science fiction nerd too.
You can choose from a variety of blinds that feature wireframe images of some of the most famous ships in sci-fi.
There is a TARDIS, the Millennium Falcon, the USS Enterprise, a Klingon Bird of Prey, a BSG inspired Viper and Boba Fett’s Slave I ship. But which do you choose? They are all amazing. Maybe if you have enough windows, you can have them all.
They cost £99 (~$152 USD) and up over at DirectBlinds, depending on the size of your windows, and any options you add.
Now that you’ve seen these, you’ll want to redecorate and try to convince your wife that spaceships will look good in your windows.
One of the biggest energy requirement for a city is to heat or cool down buildings and houses. It is not easy to design a place that will be warm in the winter, and stay cool in the summer, and one way to do this in an energy-efficient way is by using sunlight as it’s free and quite abundant. The idea of having highly reflective Windows is not new: many buildings are already using this. However, their cost made them only accessible to the richest builders. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Intel Set To Launch Internet TV Platform, With Set-Top Box And Camera, Netflix And DreamWorks To Create Turbo:F.A.S.T Show,
This week the folks at Dynamism are presenting a beast of a tablet by the name of KUPA Ultranote X15, made to bring beastly specifications to a space that’s not quite up to speed yet with future-ready Windows 8 UI. This tablet works with 8GB DDR3 RAM combined with either i5 or i7 Intel Core processors – 3rd gen Ivy Bridge, of course. Up front you get a 10.1-inch IPS display at 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution with a 16:10 aspect ratio – and that’s not all!
This machine is exciting – not just because it has the specifications at the top of its game in processing power and display abilities (10 point multitouch included), but because it’s ready to roll with features like a side-loading removable battery. When’s the last time you had any kind of tablet with a removable battery? This beast also comes with an active digitizer (digital stylus) that’s able to work with digital inking under Microsoft Windows, pressure sensitive up to 1024 levels – sounds pretty ok!
This X15 machine is able to be delivered with just wi-fi internet connectivity or up to 3G – make sure you’ve got the right model, but the capability is there. You’ve got an optional dock with keyboard (transformable!) as well, offering additional battery time, Ethernet port, VGA out, SD card slot, and one USB port. They say this keyboard is also “very comfortable for long-duration touch-typing”, but we’ll be the judge of that in the near future.
This machine is customizable – it’s got an external side-panel that’s able to be fitted with a collection of modules. Future modules include multi-card reader, video recording unit, projector, scanner bay, and more – but take note: Dynamism warns that you should purchase the X15 only after the module you desire is released for sale. There’s a possibility here that there may be “module release delays” as they say, and they warn that the return window for this unit will not be extended beyond their standard time for any reason, this including module release delays of all kinds.
That said, you’ve got internal memory and mini PCI-E slots to let you boost your customization to the max whenever you need. Have a peek at this monster in the demonstration video below and let us know if you’re all about it or if you’ll be waiting for alternatives in the future from manufacturers other than KUPA.
KUPA Ultranote X15 puts Windows 8 Pro tablets on notice is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Following the lead of other studios like Fox with its Digital HD push, Disney has announced its first movie that customers will be able to buy on download and streaming services weeks before the disc is released. Wreck-It Ralph is a worldwide hit, bringing in $277 million and counting at the box office, but the first time you’ll be able to snag it (legally) for home viewing in the US is February 12th in HD and 3D on supported services. The four disc Blu-ray 3D combo set is priced at $39.99 and will ship nearly a month later on March 5th, along with the 2-disc Blu-ray ($31.99), DVD and standard def video on-demand versions. Disney hasn’t tipped its hat about any digital efforts itself to replace the Online streaming site it shut down in November, but clearly it’s preparing for a multi-format future — we’ll see if we hear any more interesting details during CES in the coming week.
Continue reading Disney announces Wreck-It Ralph will arrive for download before DVD, Blu-ray
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
According to The Verge, Microsoft will begin shipping cheap updates to Windows every year. The new approach, which is reportedly codenamed Windows Blue, would shift Microsoft away from its current strategy of introducing mammoth updates to the OS package after several years. More »
While I never figured Darth Vader to be a man of faith, he definitely had enough of an ego to start his own church – but instead of religious figures and scenes on the stained glass, he’d much more likely go with something like this.
Yep, that’s a stormtrooper stained glass window, and Vader would line the walls of his church with an army of these, and perhaps images of the Death Star and the extermination of Alderaan.
This awesome stained glass window was made by artist Donna Terraza, and measures a substantial 22.5″ by 43.5″, so it’s almost life-sized. And before you go complaining about the helmet design, this thing is based on CC-1138 (aka Clone Marshal Commander Bacara) – who looked exactly like this.
Can you imagine if you had a glass front door, and installed this thing behind the glass? How cool would that be? I bet you’d never get unwanted solicitors coming to your front door again.
The window shown here has already been sold, but you can order one custom made over on Etsy for $710(USD). You hear that, Lord Vader?
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