TECH KNOWLEDGE

The wheels of the tech industry never stop turning and in recent years we have seen glimpse after glimpse of new technologies that could be making its way into gadgets that you could be desperately waiting for.

So be surprised and grab your favorite gadget!

Tiwi

It's a beautiful day, you are driving fast trying hard to impress your girlfriend with your new car and just when you are about to make a u-turn, your phone rings and your mom shouts, "slow down!! U fool! " and you wonder from where did she came to know about it. Oops there is TIWI on your windshield monitoring down your actions. This GPS equipped device records a hard turn, break or gas and automatically prompts a cautionary message. It is also so smart that the company thought of integrating it to the car's diagnostics and it records (and prompts driver again) when he is not wearing his seatbelt.

So all you naughty drivers; just be careful. Mom might call you up any time.

Frog design cell phones

Monitoring the weather, knowing about stock market had never been so convenient but Frog Design envisions a phone that not only delivers unsurpassed technology but becomes an essential extension of the user--ubiquitous to the modern user's life and connection to the world. Presenting... Ubik

Ubik is a conceptual music/video/game player and videophone with data capabilities. The UBIK'S flexible foldable OLED (ORGANIC LIGHT EMITTING DIODE) SCREENS needs no bulky backlighting so the open handset is only a quarter-inch thick, ambient light cue provides information to the user's peripheral senses and maintains a subtle visual cue of being connected without intrusive text or scrolling messages. The built-in optical scanner ensures that you are the only one who can access your Ubik. The phone is designed to be used with a wireless earpiece, but it also can be spoken into directly like a conventional phone. Ubik can be made to access your communications: phone, e-mail, and instant messaging, gaming, MP3s, photo sharing, and Web surfing. The unique dual design eliminates the need to scroll through long text menus; just open the phone, and you're there.

Z WAVE TECHNOLOGY

Z-Wave lets you control the home electronics in ways that give you complete command even when you're not at home. You can control your Z-Wave household remotely from a PC and the Internet from anywhere in the world...even through your cell phone! Z-Wave Technology Appears in Apple's Holiday iPhone.

Z-Wave unifies all your home electronics into an integrated wireless network, with no complicated programming and no new cables to run. Any Z-Wave enabled device can be effortlessly added to this network, and many non-Z-Wave devices can be made compatible by simply plugging them into a Z-Wave accessory module. In seconds, your device gets joined to the network and can communicate wirelessly with other Z-Wave modules and controllers.

The Schlage Link is a door locking system that controls remotely via cell phone. It also allows you to control lights, heating, and air conditioning at home. The lock installs in a standard fashion and runs on batteries.

Z-Wave makes your home -- and your life -- safer, more secure, more economical, more convenient and more enjoyable!

GESTURE BASED REMOTE CONTROLLING

Today's prototype becomes tomorrow's product. Gesture Tech , a California based company, is into the work of developing a sophisticated, broad adoption gesture based interfaces which are based on the motion tracking software and cameras. Compared with the intricacies of voice recognition this blueprint has already made its way into the consumer electronics.

Toshiba Qosmio G55 laptop can recognize gestures to control multimedia playback. The company is also experimenting with a TV version of the technology, which would watch for hand signals via a small camera atop the set.

The successful accomplishment of this would erase the "can't find the remote" crowd. Expect to see gesture recognition technology make some great strides over the next few years, with inroads into mainstream markets by 2012.

These futuristically advanced techs will definitely change the way one think about and use technologies. What mostly matters isn't the tech but the way that gee-whiz stuffs will truly affect our lives.

Saloni Salaria

Amity Institute of Biotechnology