The Future Is Here Today...Robots, Genetics, AI, Longevity, Singularity

3D TV? Too Soon Now, but One Day You Will Want It

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by Aaron Saenz on January 14th, 2010
3d tv has arrived too soon

3D TV...I'm not that impressed. It's likely to fail before it succeeds.

Here’s an offer for you: I’ll give you some of the most amazing entertainment you’ve ever seen, and I’ll even put it in your own home. What’s the catch? High prices, limited content, and some of the most horrendously dorky and inconvenient glasses in the world. I’m talking about the coming “3D TV revolution” that was the talk of CES this year. All the big name companies for TV production (Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, LG, Panasonic, etc) had at least one 3D TV set at CES, and most had entire regions of their floor space dedicated to promoting the innovation. Panasonic’s VT25 series won Best in Show and will likely be hitting retailers near you in the second quarter of this year. So, the question we’re all asking here: is 3D TV worth it? No, not yet. Now, that’s just my opinion. It happens to be right, of course. If you want to know why, read on.

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CES 2010 in Pictures

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by Aaron Saenz on January 12th, 2010
ces 2010

CES is all about the biggest, brightest, flashiest displays. Kudos to Samsung for its towers of LED TVs.

Integration. Dimensionality. Connectivity. Those were the three key concepts that exhibitors wanted to impress upon me as I walked the floors of CES 2010. The gadgets of this year and next were going to combine previous innovations, bring them into our 3D world, and connect us with people everywhere. The Consumer Electronics Show is the forum for getting your cutting edge technology into the hands of buyers for major retailers all over the world. As such, it’s full of remarkable innovations and cool demonstrations as well as hype and delusions of grandeur. Enjoy the following photo safari through the booths of CES 2010.

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Cisco Telepresence Coming To Your Home Despite Alternatives

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by Aaron Saenz on January 7th, 2010

cisco-telepresence-at-homeI couldn’t be home for Christmas this year, so I video chatted with my family instead. The picture quality was a little spotty with breaks, freezes, and frequent ghosting. Still, the experience was passable and, best of all, it was free. Soon my video calls could get more expensive but a whole lot more life-like. According to Reuters, Cisco has just announced at CES 2010 that it will be adapting its Telepresence video conferencing for home use. Trials in homes will begin this Spring in the US and later in 2010 for France, partnered with Verizon and France Telecom respectively. Telepresence calls offer vastly superior quality to the current home webcam communicating programs like Skype, but require much greater bandwidth. Cisco will need to partner with ISPs as it expands into homes, so expect others to join the list after Verizon. If successful in bringing Telepresence to the residential market, Cisco could change the way we communicate but it faces stiff competition.

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New Panasonic Robots To Assist The Elderly (Video)

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by Aaron Saenz on October 23rd, 2009
Panasonic's new robots are kick butt healthcare assistants: like this bed that transforms into a motorized chair.

Panasonic's new robots are kick butt healthcare assistants: like this bed that transforms into a motorized chair.

As populations age in industrialized countries all over the world, the elderly may turn to robots to help them with chores and mobility. Panasonic recently held a press conference in Kadoma, Osaka to demonstrate some of their new robotic systems aimed at home use, and assisting the elderly. These devices include a kitchen arm, a motorized lifter/mover, and a bed that turns into a wheelchair. The electronics giant announced that it wanted to reach 100 billion yen (~$1.1 billion USD) in robot sales in 2015/2016, thus becoming profitable in the field at that point. By focusing on assistance bots rather than humanoid machines, Panasonic hopes to build devices which have a ready consumer base. Stocks (TYO:6752) rose briefly on the news. Check out the cool video from IDG and Newtork World.TV after the break.

Japan, like the United States and most other nations in the West, faces increasing healthcare expenses as a large post war generation continues to age. There will certainly be automated systems that will augment the care provided by doctors, nurses, and other professionals. Improved monitoring devices, and various remote controlled probes will increase the efficiency of medical teams. Just as important, we may see an increase in technologies that allow patients to help themselves such as reliable online medical information. Assistance robots would allow you to direct your own care to some extent, or at least manage the day to day tasks that would normally require a human caretaker. The elderly could turn to robotics to guarantee a greater sense of freedom and self reliance.
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