Gigs 2 Go

Microchips have the unique ability to grow in power while at the same time decreasing in cost. For years futurists have discussed the idea of disposable computers. Gigs 2 Go is the first attempt at creating that reality.

Gigs 2 Go is a disposable flash drive with a recyclable cardboard shell. They come in packs of four that are about the size of a business card. Each flash drive can be torn from the pack, used a couple of times and then disposed of.

The concept is great. We all work to keep from losing our precious flash drives. That is because they can be expensive and we often keep huge amounts of relatively valuable data on them. But what if they changed from being a one time purchase to just a temporary project file. The loss of a Gig  2 Go may affect a project, but not your life. The concept also has credence in that, since cloud storage is becoming a norm, few people need a dedicated flash drive.

As far as the design goes, durability may be put into question but since they are designed to be disposable, limited use, naturally, is inherent to the concept.  The look of Gigs 2 Go is not amazing but compared to some other cardboard-based products it's not bad.

It's great to see us moving into the realm of disposable computing, while at the same time keeping it sustainable. Gigs 2 Go is a very clever step in that direction.

The Tile

The Tile is a new way to find things. It is a a small Bluetooth tag that can be connected to things like keys, laptops, and wallets so that you never forget or lose those items again. Tile which completed a crowdfunding campaign in 2013 will be shipping in the summer of 2014.

The Tile is pretty slick. That is is the way to describe it. It almost looks like a product that would be launched by Apple. It is a sealed tag that does not have battery replacements, (when it dies you buy new ones) and a is a sleek white. A very unobtrusive design, compared to old style keyfinders.

The app itself is nifty. When looking for something users simply pull out their smartphone and use the app to be directed to where the tile is, based on distance from the tile. As you get closer you can have the Tile beep to give its final location. If you forgot an item somewhere, the app records the last GPS location of that item so you can always go back and find it.

But where the Tile app really comes into its own is when something is stolen or completely lost. When this happens the user can mark the item as lost then every other Tile user can basically search for it with their phone. So you essentially create a networked radar to find the lost item. If someone's phone detects the item then you are sent a message as to its last known location.

There is one possibility of Tile that, if it doesn't exist already, (Tile didn't present it in any of their material) should be added. Instead of just helping the user find an item, Tile should stop them from ever being lost. This could be done through a passive mode of when the users phone gets more than some distance away an alert is sent telling them that they are forgetting something. This kind of functionality could keep a lot of flashdrives from being left in computers and keys on tables.

Overall, the Tile is an nifty piece of hardware, and while the software has neat features it needs expanding.

EmoPulse Smile Smartwatch

The Emopulse Smile Smartwatch is one of the few wearables being created that will be able to claim aesthetics as well as functionality.

While not really a watch, but more of a wristband or bracelet, the Smile is not something that someone has to be a geek to wear. Though it may be a bit bulky, its curves and OLED display make it decently fashionable.

Being basically just a smartphone on your wrist the Smile has much of the same hardware, camera, USB, Micro SD, etc. These will help to make the Smile a device that can appeal to a larger range of people since it will be able to take on any number of different tasks and even replace the smartphone. As opposed to most smartwatches, like the Galaxy Gear, which are just smartphone interfaces.

The fact that the Smile simply slips onto your wrist without a snap or band is also a large plus. Easy on and off makes the Smile more of a typical mobile device than just a wearable. This aspect makes the watch and its functions easier to utilize and create a better user experience.

Since the Smile is just now nearing production production we can't comment on function as far as apps and software go. But its ergonomic and aesthetic design thus far seems well thought out and a great addition to the wearable electronics sector.

Project Ara: A Modular Smartphone

Project Ara is a modular phone concept that was started by Motorola and is now being continued as a Google project. The Ara, which is predicted to be selling in a watered down version next year, uses tiles that perform individual functions to create a smartphone that is exactly what the user wants. Want more memory. There's a module for that. Need a better camera? There's a module for that.

The concept is brilliant. Instead of having to upgrade an entire device you can simply swap out individual components. And of course you are able to change the phone to your changing interests.This phone also leaves itself open to hackers, makers, and small companies to create modules for it. This will create a new generation of hardware "apps" that can be used with this phone. It really brings development back from software and more toward the hardware. It can become a hobby to create a module for your phone just as it is to create an app now.

Overall, the design of the Ara is decent. It remains slim like other phones, and its modules are aesthetically pleasing and comfortable. The only issue right off is that the design of the endoskeleton frame limits layout of modules to certain sizes in certain places. This decreases the modularity somewhat, but helps to maintain the the overall aesthetic of the phone. (people can't make ugly phones)

The Ara also adds one more touch of customizability to the phone by planning to let customers 3-D print panels to cover the modules with. These panels can be multicolored and have various textures to suit the user.

In a world with increasing demand for products to adapt to the needs of the user, especially in software, it is great to see that someone is working to add that personalization to the tangible world.

The video below was a promotion to get an earlier modular phone concept off the ground, Phoneblocs

The Computer Mouse

The computer mouse. This device is what allowed computers to be usable by the average person. Without the mouse there would be no graphical user interface (GUI), and without a GUI there would be no personal computers as we know them today.

Certainly with the advent of touch and other interaction technologies the mouse is quickly being usurped as the main interaction tool for the personal computer. But it still defined the way that computers could be be made reachable. You move something in the real world and that moves something in the digital world. The mouse bridged the gap between computers and humans. It was the translator between two different languages. Before, a person had to speak computer in order to communicate with it. The mouse brought about natural sign language as a means to talk to computers.

And, of course, aesthetically  the mouse is not repulsive. A person looks at a mouse and they are not intimidated by it. It very naturally portrays its purpose, both before and while using it. Not to mention the fact that the curves of modern mice make them comfortable to hold and almost cute to look at.

The mouse is the central hardware feature that made graphical interfaces possible. Without it the computer industry would not have gained the acceptance that it did.

inForm: The Morphing Table from MIT

The inForm project from MIT's tangible media group. is a great system. Being a research project, this concept is far more interesting by seeing what it can become than from what it is.

But first of all, let's set aside a few of the ideas presented in the video above. These ideas are concepts that will not be what the design of the table would be used for. First, the idea of having it visualize data or bar graphs. This is useless as an application because actual, non-tactile LED/LCD displays do this just fin and with growing 3D and their interactivity capabilities. So the tangibility of data is simply not needed. As a matter of fact, using the inForm as almost any type of display is a misuse of the design.

The inForm is not meant make flat things 3D and real, it is meant to make 3D things 3D and real. The idea of having it form into  the shape of a toy or design is brilliant, because it makes rapid prototyping instantaneous. Or having someone interact through the table, this would also be very useful. The point of the display is to make things become real so that we can interact with them with our senses and the table can interact with us. It is meant to be a precursor to a holodeck not an iteration of the computer screen.

While the design is chunky right not it could easily be refined. But the chunky isn't bad either. For example if one was to super-size the chunky you could create an urban apartment that changes its layout and furniture to the needs of the tenants. Sure everything would be a little "blocky" but it would be so cool to watch your bed fall into the floor and be replaced by a desk and chair.

The Amazon Kindle

The Amazon Kindle. A single function device in a world of multitasking. Why is this the tablet that so many pull out to read from? Why is any e-reader?

The answer is actually quite simple. The Kindle bridges the gap between books and technology. Its function is to make reading from a tablet like reading from a book. That fact that its display looks like a page, (i.e. no glare) and that it is the size of a normal paperback make it an ideal substitute for a backpack full of books to many. But the look and feel of the Kindle make it ideal not just for the tech generation, but those older that enjoy reading.

The breakthrough in the Kindle that made it the ultimate niche device was the fact that it is more natural than any other tablet to read from. Because it is as no technological as it can be in function and appearance. It's e-ink is a perfect substitute for the real thing.

However, the kindle is not perfect. While the look and feel of its page is very natural the rest of it is not. The tablet shape is small and tight. And the touchscreen does not allow the fingers to relax onto its page as you would a book. It is also cold and thin, unlike most books. But I suppose these are all issues that are solved by Kindle cases. But any device should not require accessories to function perfectly.

Cycloramic iPhone App

Cycloramic is an iPhone app that allows users to take panoramic pictures. That alone would not make it a TIMD, there are many panoramic picture apps out there. However, the aspect that makes Cycloramic worthy of mention is the mechanism by which it takes the pictures.

Many similar apps have stands that rotate, or that make the person spin around to get the picture. Cycloramic has done something that I have never seen in a phone before. It uses the vibration of the phone itself to rotate it a perfect 360 degrees on any smooth surface. Limitations with the variety of surfaces aside, the idea of using only the vibrating motor to make a phone move in a predetermined pattern, without external mechanics of some kind,  is revolutionary.

Ideas that can come out of this would be things like iPhone pets that move across your coffee table or 3-D scanner apps that move around the object. The ability to harness the simple motor in the phone to get non-random motion is something that has limitless potential. Certainly, it may be much harder to get a phone to move in a path as opposed to rotate. But before Cycloramic it  had never been considered that it was possible to make the motion, caused by the ringer vibration, be precise at all.