innovation

Healthy Gadgets, VR and Connected Toilets at CES 2018

By Paul B. Kaiser on January 13, 2018

The number of innovations displayed at CES is never in shortage. So I’m highlighting only a few in this article with some links to the top winners. The bottom line is if you can imagine adding the internet to any type of gadget, it’s happening. Some very cool healthcare gadgets, enhanced VR and of course toilets are all in the consumers eye. And when you’re done laughing at the toilet IoT idea, let me tell you, it makes good sense. It cleans itself, it’s heated and it is voice activated. Definitely a dream come true.

May I introduce – the “Toto 750”.

Hey Google – Flush The Toilet

I hear angels when I see this toilet.

numi

Numi intelligent toilet with KOHLER Konnect is Kohler’s most advanced toilet. The Numi offers personalized experiences that let users fine-tune every aspect of their experience to their exact preference, from ambient colored lighting to wireless Bluetooth^® music sync capability to the heated seat and foot warmer. Numi delivers hands-free control, personalized cleansing functionality, and exceptional water efficiency.
Features of Numi with KOHLER Konnect can be controlled through voice-command, the KOHLER Konnect app, or the remote.

hey google ces As you’ve probably heard, Google has dominated CES 2018 and will be the driving force behind many gadgets. Google announced on their blog that Google assistant will be everywhere, on every device.

“The Google Assistant is your personal Google. It lets you have a conversation and ask about everything under the sun and, best of all, it’s available wherever you need help—at home or on the go. Over the past year, we’ve been working to bring the Assistant to more devices in more places and now it’s available on more than 400 million devices.”

The Google Assistant gives you an easy, hands-free way to control your home, whether it’s helping you dim the lights from the comfort of your couch or play your dinner party playlist. It’s already lending a helping hand in speakers like Google Home, Mini and Max. In fact, we’ve sold more than one Google Home every second since Google Home Mini started shipping in October. And with so much excitement around speakers, we’re making the Assistant even more available—this week we’re announcing that the Assistant is coming to new voice-activated speakers from Altec Lansing, Anker Innovations, Bang & Olufsen, Braven, iHome, JBL, Jensen, LG, Klipsch, Knit Audio, Memorex, RIVA Audio and SōLIS.

But there are also moments when a screen would make the Assistant even more helpful, like when you need to learn how to cut a pineapple, and the best way is to watch a video. Today, we’re announcing that the Assistant is coming to smart displays. These new devices have the Google Assistant built in, and with the added benefit of a touch screen, they can help you get even more done. You can watch videos from YouTube, video call with Google Duo, find photos from Google Photos and more. You can also get recommendations for your favorite content, right on the home screen.

Starting later this year, the Assistant is coming to new smart displays from four companies, including JBL, Lenovo, LG and Sony. To learn more about how smart displays were built, visit the Android Developers blog.

Cool Health Gadgets

Gadgets that focus on improving users’ health and well-being were in ample supply this year at CES. Philips launched a wearable headband to enhance sleep. Prevent Biometrics released a mouthguard that could detect concussions. Swim.com and Spire Health Tag collaborated to design a “smart swimsuit” that could help swimmers track their water workouts. Neutrogena unveiled its SkinScanner, which attaches to an iPhone and syncs with the Skin360 app to help users assess their skin health from home.

The SkinScanner product was made in partnership with a New York-based company called Fitskin. It’s a tool that slides onto the top of your iPhone and uses 12 LED lights and a 30x magnification lens to capture an up-close image of your skin. It also has a moisture sensor, around the rim of the lens. You open the app, press the device right onto your face, and take a series of images. Glamour shots these are not: these are close-up readings of your skin’s moisture levels, wrinkles, and pore size.

The L’Oreal UV Sense may help prevent Skin Cancer

The smaller a device is, the more wearable it becomes, and that’s one of the reasons that L’Oreal’s UV Sense is so intriguing. It’s a UV sensor no bigger than a thumbnail that tells you, via your smartphone, how much sun exposure you’ve received each day. The benefits are twofold: Not only could this help prevent skin cancer, it’s also a key step on a micro-wearable computing journey that could revolutionize the world.

Best of CES

See the list of CES winners

Photo by John Locher People walk through a display of television screens during CES International, in Las Vegas
Gadget Show LG, Las Vegas, USA – 09 Jan 2018

When it rains, it pours. And on the first day of CES 2018, the monstrous gadget expo that drew an astounding 184,000 people to Las Vegas this year, it rained. Hard. Traffic snarled, Google’s parking lot tent at the Las Vegas Convention Center flooded, drones were grounded, autonomous cars sat parked.

The next day, a power outage plunged the entire show floor into darkness.

It would be fair to say that CES 2018 gave us plenty of ominous reasons to remember it, but fortunately for us, there also were plenty of fun things to see when the lights were on. From the usual spate of wall-sized TVs to servile robots, crazy-fast PCs, and new VR headsets, all the usual culprits were in attendance. But we set out to find the best of the best for our annual Top Tech of CES awards.

Nice overview of CES 2018

Innovation will Prevail in the Steve Jobs Theatre

By Paul B. Kaiser on March 1, 2017

Will innovation prevail at the new Apple Park – name just announced? It was Steve Job’s last dream to build this spaceship. And that reality is within reach and looks awesome. We should know very soon if innovation will be sparked here, as they are about to move in this April. However, it is expected to take 6 months for the full move. The new Apple Park in Cupertino has 175 acres of rolling parkland and one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the world. For other Apple spaceship facts see this article.

Official video from Apple on the April opening.

Apple’s vision is stated below:

Cupertino, California — Apple today announced that Apple Park, the company’s new 175-acre campus, will be ready for employees to begin occupying in April. The process of moving more than 12,000 people will take over six months, and construction of the buildings and parklands is scheduled to continue through the summer.

Envisioned by Steve Jobs as a center for creativity and collaboration, Apple Park is transforming miles of asphalt sprawl into a haven of green space in the heart of the Santa Clara Valley. The campus’ ring-shaped, 2.8 million-square-foot main building is clad entirely in the world’s largest panels of curved glass.

Steve would have turned 62 this Friday, February 24.

To honor his memory and his enduring influence on Apple and the world, the theater at Apple Park will be named the Steve Jobs Theater.

Opening later this year, the entrance to the 1,000-seat auditorium is a 20-foot-tall glass cylinder, 165 feet in diameter, supporting a metallic carbon-fiber roof. The Steve Jobs Theater is situated atop a hill — one of the highest points within Apple Park — overlooking meadows and the main building.

Apple Park will also include a visitors center with an Apple Store and cafe open to the public, a 100,000-square-foot fitness center for Apple employees, secure research and development facilities and the Steve Jobs Theater. The parklands offer two miles of walking and running paths for employees, plus an orchard, meadow and pond within the ring’s interior grounds.

Designed in collaboration with Foster + Partners, Apple Park replaces 5 million square feet of asphalt and concrete with grassy fields and over 9,000 native and drought-resistant trees, and is powered by 100 percent renewable energy. With 17 megawatts of rooftop solar, Apple Park will run one of the largest on-site solar energy installations in the world. It is also the site of the world’s largest naturally ventilated building, projected to require no heating or air conditioning for nine months of the year.

See construction update for Apple Park – filmed by Duncan Sinfield

Android Wear 2.0 and Watches Made by Google

By Paul B. Kaiser on January 19, 2017

[UPDATE February 10,2017]

Android Wear 2.0 was officially released on February 9th and is rolling out to existing watches on February 15th. See the list below for watch update. Here is an overview from Android.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

It looks as though Android Wear 2.0 should release in February. In our last article it seemed Google would be launching in 2016 but several things had changed and it appeared they might even discontinue their support. But that is not the case. One of the more changes is that Google will release its own pair of watches. More on this at the bottom.

In a recent leak, it is said that – “Google is targeting Feb. 9 as the release date for Android Wear 2.0, bringing a bunch of features that were first announced at Google I/O in May, including Android Pay support, third-party complications (the fancy term for customizable faces), and integration with Google Assistant.”

The following watches are currently on the list of devices ready to take advantage of the update, including popular models from Huawei, Motorola, and LG:

Asus ZenWatch 2
Asus ZenWatch 3
Casio Smart Outdoor Watch
Fossil Q Founder
Fossil Q Marshal
Fossil Q Wander
Huawei Watch
Huawei Watch Ladies
LG G Watch R
LG Watch Urbane
LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE
Michael Kors Access Bradshaw
Michael Kors Access Dylan
Moto 360 Gen 2
Moto 360 Sport
Nixon Mission
Polar M600
Tag Heuer Connected

The biggest news is that Google has announced at the end of last year that it would be launching a pair of new watches. They would obviously take advantage of the new update, marking the company’s first step into wearable hardware. Were still waiting to hear what the names of the watches will be. This is yet one more piece of hardware in their “Made by Google” line up. If it’s as good as the Pixel, I’m excited.

The reported specs said they will sell in color choices of titanium or dark blue, while the Watch Style will sell in color choices of titanium, silver, and rose gold. The Watch Sport will feature a 14.2mm thick case, 1.38-inch round display (480×480), 768MB RAM, 4GB storage, and a 430mAh battery. The Watch Style, on the other hand, will feature a 10.8mm thick case, 1.2-inch round display (360×360), 512MB RAM, 4GB storage, and a 240mAh battery. Each smartwatch should have Bluetooth and WiFi, IP68 (Sport) and IP67 (Style) water and dust resistance, and Google Assistant integration, plus the Watch Sport will gain 3G and LTE connectivity, GPS, NFC, and a heart rate sensor. Additionally, both watches will feature a digital crown of sorts, to help with navigating the new Android Wear 2.0 UI. The newest feature may be they have radar and unique gesture control. See the video below.

Cool things made at Google

The Gigafactory is Elon Musk’s Sonnet to the Future

By Paul B. Kaiser on December 24, 2016

Elon Musk’s Gigafactory is taking shape as seen in the new drone video below. When it opened this year the mode of production was far below expectations. But 6 months later, it is a different story.

Why build this huge factory? The firm foresees it will drive down the per kilowatt hour (kWh) costs of their battery pack by more than 30 percent. And keeping with Tesla’s green theme, the plant will also be powered by renewable resources, ‘with the goal of achieving net zero energy,’ Tesla says.

CEO Elon Musk said “the factory could easily employ 10,000 people in the next three to four years.”

The name Gigafactory comes from the factory’s planned annual battery production capacity of 35 gigawatt-hours (GWh). “Giga'”is a unit of measurement that represents ‘billions’.

Drone footage reveals world’s biggest building has added 2.4 MILLION square feet in just six months

Factoids:

$5 billion structure in Sparks, Nevada will produce 500,000 lithium ion batteries annually to meet demand
New drone footage of Tesla’s Gigafactory shows that it is now 30 percent complete
The north end of the massive building has been finished, adding another 4.5 million square feet of space
The factory will be used to produce batteries for products including Tesla Model 3 car

It’s deemed the biggest factory in the world – but when Tesla opened the doors to its ‘Gigafactory’ earlier this year, only 14 percent was complete. Fast forward six months later and new drone footage reveals that the electric carmaker has more than doubled the size by adding an additional 2.4 million square feet of space to the campus.

By the end of 2017, the company aims to begin production of its more affordable Model 3. And by 2020 it plans to ramp up production to build as many as one million vehicles per year, an ambitious goal considering the company expects to produce about 80,000 to 90,000 vehicles in 2016. Regardless where the numbers end up, there is no doubt that Elon Musk will change the mode of production.

The Apple Spaceship is Landing 2017

By Paul B. Kaiser on December 23, 2015

The latest news and interesting facts on the apple spaceship.

NEW DRONE VIDEO

I never get tired of drone footage for the Apple spaceship construction. Here is some new footage. Can you feel the hype?

November 2016 update on Apple Spaceship progress.

August 2016 update on Apple Spaceship. Compare it to Junes video.

The latest look at the Apple Spaceship in June 2016 from Matthew Roberts. The ship is really starting to shape up, but it still feels a long way from being completed. This complex is just beyond belief.

Newest drone video by Ducan Sinfield

The up and coming Apple Spaceship has to be the most intriguing piece of corporate architecture. I’m totally enthralled with every piece of news and drone video of the compound. It speaks not only to Apples success, but to the limits of which architecture and design can excel. I have to believe that this structure will qualify as one of the innovative wonders in the world. Tim Cook has elegantly picked up where Steve Jobs left off and is creating an environment for generations to come.

“It will be a center for innovation for generations to come,” Cook said. “We think it’s so important to have a place that inspires you.”

Apples curved glass — The largest piece of curved glass in the world.

How big is Apple’s new campus?

The new Apple Campus will be set in a 2.8 million-square-foot area.
That’s a 176-acre site.
It will house more than 13,000 Apple employees in one building.
The building is more than a mile around.
There will be 300,000 square feet of research facilities and underground parking.
It is expected to be complete in late 2016
In May 2014, Apple leased 290,000 square feet of new office space in Sunnyvale known as Sunnyvale Crossing. It is thought that this additional space comprises seven buildings and will provide room for around 1,450 workers. It is located near to the new ‘Spaceship’ campus as well as the current ‘Infinite Loop’ campus.
Despite aiming to be self-sufficient and earth-friendly, the range of materials used in the construction will without a doubt be the top of the line. “As with Apple’s products, Jobs wanted no seam, gap or paintbrush stroke showing; every wall, floor and even ceiling is to be polished to a supernatural smoothness. All of the interior wood was to be harvested from a specific species of maple, and only finer quality ‘heartwood’ at the centre of the trees would be used,” an insider told Business Week.
As a consequence of the large size of the building, the sections have been broken up with cafes, lobbies and entrances.
A significant segment of the building is the restaurant, which opens up to the landscape.
The car park is buried below the landscape so there are no rows of parked cars to spoil the view

Renderings of the dream

Latest Footage – From a drones view

How much input did Steve Jobs have in the new campus?

According to Norman Foster, Apple’s late CEO Steve Jobs requested that he be considered a part of the team rather than the client.
Jobs wanted the new campus to reflect the Californian landscapes from his childhood, Foster claims in the video.
Apple’s ‘senior arborist’, David Muffly, reveals in the video that part of Apple’s plan was to bring California back to Cupertino.
Steve Jobs was inspired by a large space known as the Main Quad on the Stanford campus.

How environmentally friendly will the new Apple campus be?

The new Apple Campus will aim at being self-sufficient. Most of the power for the facilities will come from an “on-site low carbon Central Plant”, according to an Apple Insider report. Apple intends to use alternative energy sources to power the campus, as part of its pledge to use 100 percent renewable energy at its facilities.
After revisions to the original plan, Apple showed that will be able to complete the project without having to remove any dirt from the area.
The structure will be outfitted with solar panels around the top of the building. It will run mostly off the Cupertino power grid but will use it as a backup electrical supply.
7,000 trees will surround the campus. Apple has hired a leading arborist from Stanford University to help landscape the area and restore some of the indigenous plant life, including apricot orchards.
All landscaping is intended to make the area look very park-like. It will include jogging paths and walking trails around the building.
The former HP campus on which Apple’s Campus 2 is being built was covered in buildings, concrete parking lots and non-indigenous decorative trees ill-suited to the specific Pacific climate. The strongest of the trees will be replanted and augmented with sturdy species that will flourish to create large open expanses of greenery.
Apple VP of Environmental Initiatives Lisa Jackson reiterates that 80 percent of the site will be so-called “green space”, while the main building will go without air conditioning or heating for 75 percent of the year thanks to natural ventilation. Further, 100 percent of the campus’ energy will be sourced from renewable assets like solar power and bio fuels

How much will the new Apple campus cost?

The budget for the new spaceship-like headquarters has ballooned from less than $3 billion in 2011 to almost $5 billion.
Not everyone is happy. It has been reported that angry shareholders have attacked the $5 billion project, labeling it wildly extravagant.
According to Bloomberg, although $1 billion is less than 1 percent of Apple’s cash reserves, shareholders have complained that too much is being spent on this vast project while nothing is being handed back to stockholders.

Solar powered — The spaceship will created the same amount of energy it uses – Net-Zero

What facilities will there be at the new Apple campus?

The main building will include a wellness centre. This $75 million fitness centre will probably cater for the needs of the entire Apple community in Silicon Valley, which is around 20,000 people.
The headquarters will be fitted with a new 1000-seat underground auditorium which will allow Apple to have presentations in the same building, instead of having to go to San Francisco every time.
The new underground parking facilities will increase the number of spaces from 10,500 to 14,200.
Due to its underground location, this will triple the amount of landscaped area in the campus.
1,000 bikes will be kept on the site and available to staff to get around the campus

Whats next?

According to a report from the Silicon Valley Business Journal, Apple is in the process of securing a development agreement for a plot of land in San Jose that could hold a campus of up to 4.15 million square feet. By comparison, the Apple Campus 2 (the one with the ring-like spaceship design) takes up 2.8 million square feet of space, which is itself 230 percent bigger than the company’s current headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop. Essentially, this new development in San Jose could be absolutely massive.

Alt. Drone View

ASUS Launches Their Flagship Phone – The ZenFone 2

By Paul B. Kaiser on May 18, 2015

Updated: Android Headlines recent review of the ASUS Zenfone 2 – June 5, 2015

“I too was surprised, but the high-end specs – Intel processor, 4GB of RAM, the ability to expand memory and the price, just make it too hard not to declare the ASUS ZenFone 2 the winner of this comparison.

The HTC One M9 is a great device, and if you demand an all-metal exterior and BoomSound, then by all means, pick yourself up a One M9 and you should be very happy. It takes good photos and even though the Snapdragon 810 may warm up your metal enclosure, it is a solid buy…maybe if it had the QHD display, things could be different.

When you look at the display size, the design – which looks great – and then add in a very competent Intel Atom processor, 4GB or RAM, a good camera and 64GB of storage for only $299, how can you pass that up…I know that I could not, and picked the ASUS ZenFone 2 as the winner of this comparison.”

Full story – http://bit.ly/1IqkOZN

The theme today was “Incredible Comes to New York”, ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih Announced. Today at 1pm Digital Intervention attended the launch of the new ASUS ZenFone 2. The whole event was hosted by ASUS at the Gotham Hall in NYC. If you have never been to the hall before, it is a unique experience. And the atmosphere was definitely a “Zen like” moment. See our Live Blog from today.

Let’s get to the phone though. We had some hands-on time with the ZenFone 2, and it’s a pretty fast device. They are releasing it many colors and textures – see image below. The phone is very light and has a plastic back, but the curved design fits nicely in your hand. We’ll be testing and using the phone over the next week, so look for future notes and review.

Availability of ZenFone 2 in North America

AVAILABILITY & PRICING

QUICK SUMMARY: The ASUS ZenFone 2 will be available in red, black, gray and silver from May 19th, 2015, costing $199 for the 2GB RAM/1.8GHz version with 16GB storage and an Intel Atom Z3560 processor, or $299 for the 4GB RAM/2.3GHz version with 64GB storage, an Intel Atom Z3580 processor and a BoostMaster charger. It will be available to order from Amazon.com, B&H, Groupon.com and NewEgg.com in the US and NewEgg.ca, NCIX.com, Canada Computer and Memory Express in Canada.

New York, NY (May 18th, 2015) — ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih today introduced ZenFone 2 and the latest ZenBook models to the United States and Canada at the Incredible Comes to New York press event. Hosted at the sophisticated and stylish Gotham Hall in Manhattan, the event showcased a line-up of meticulously-crafted products in their North American debut and featured a stunning acrobatic dance performance creatively highlighting photography with ZenFone 2.

“ZenFone 2 is the flagship ASUS smartphone designed to be
an empowering luxury for everyone to enjoy.”

The ZenFone 2 features a 13 MP camera with ASUS-exclusive PixelMaster camera technology, the brand-new ZenUI user interface, Dual-SIM, Dual-Active (DSDA) capability, and incredible performance that delivers a premium smartphone experience to users. ZenFone 2 is coming to market in the United States unlocked and contract-free, giving users freedom to enjoy the smartphone on the service provider of their choice.

Making an appearance at the event was digital artist and Instagram sensation Robert Jahns, who endorsed the ZenFone 2 See What Others Can’t See photography campaign, a global campaign designed to showcase the advantages of ZenFone 2’s PixelMaster camera technology.

At the end of the day…

The ZenFone 2 is a decent smartphone, with great specs, and at a great price. The performance is delivered by a 64-bit Intel® Atom™ Z3580 (‘Moorefield’) processor with up to 4GB RAM. An Intel LTE-Advanced modem provides ultra-fast and reliable 4G/LTE connectivity.

ZenFone 2’s 13MP PixelMaster camera with its f/2.0 wide-aperture lens lets users quickly and easily capture beautiful, high-resolution photos with zero shutter-lag. Camera features, including Low Light mode, Backlight (Super HDR) mode, and Super Resolution mode, ensure incredible photos even in dimly lit situations.

ZenFone 2 has a 3000mAh battery that provides more than enough power to get through the day, and it also features BoostMaster fast-charge technology for dramatically-reduced recharge times. The battery can be super charged in 10 minutes giving you 4 hours of talk time. Wow!