TEC - SCAN

CES 2016, the first and debatably most important consumer technology show of the year, is over. We’ve already gone over some of the  weirdest  technology from the show (and there was plenty to choose from), but now we’re going to list off the stuff from CES that actually got us excited about the future. There are some mainstays of the show such as the Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive, and new ultra super definition massive televisions—but also a lot of new stuff that was a complete surprise. These are the 10 gadgets and pieces of new technology that stood out from the bunch for us: 10. Segway Advanced Personal Robot Segways were already a little ridiculous, but now they have a robotic face on them—but hey, no CES is complete without some old fashioned robotics. This new product from Segway is somewhere between a personal assistant and a mode of transportation, which isn’t the craziest thing in the world when you think about it. Much of the potential behind such a prod...

When you need to charge your electronic devices on the go, it can be a hassle trying to find somewhere to plug in. And though some devices can already be charged without wires, researchers at The Walt Disney Company have recently supersized the technology by building a wireless "charging room." Scientists at a branch of The Walt Disney Company called Disney Research have converted an entire room into a wireless charger that can boost the batteries of 10 objects at one time, according to the study. The researchers said they were inspired by inventor  Nikola Tesla , who created the first system to wirelessly transmit electricity —  the Tesla coil . Tesla believed there could be a global network of wireless electricity that would use an electromagnetic wave that reverberated between the ionosphere (a layer of the Earth's atmosphere filled with ions and free electrons) and the ground, study co-author Alanson Sample, an associate lab director and principal research sci...

This gesture recognition bracelet is one of the cool new gadgets that lets you control devices by  moving your hands. Invented by Stephen Lake, Matthew Bailey and Aaron Grant, the MYO armband (derived from the prefix "myo" meaning related to muscle) can identify hand gestures by interpreting biometric signals in your arm. When making a particular hand motion such as pointing, the armband can identify the gesture, which allows the pointing motion to be associated with a specific command for a digital device. You can use hand signals to interact with televisions, computers, phones or any smart technology system. The importance of this technology is that it enables you to interact more naturally with devices by reducing the need for input peripherals like mice, keyboards or touchscreens. The problem with current gesture recognition technology like Wii by Nintendo or Kinect by Microsoft, is that it requi...

It seems like Google is trying to make its mobile platform more convenient to use as the search giant is reportedly working on some assistive features that might make their way to the next version of Android - codenamed Android O. If the newly revealed information is to be believed, Google is working towards adding features that would make use of artificial intelligence to make life easier for Android users. There are also talks of adding gesture triggers to help users perform functions with speed and ease. Android o 'Copy Less' feature A person familiar with the matter told Venture Beat that Google has developed a feature called 'Copy Less' to ease the process of copying something from one app to the other. With this feature, users will not be required to go through the process of copying and pasting but would rather get the text as a suggestion. For example, if you are having a conversation regarding restaurants with your friend and you happened to find an appr...

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos got to live out every 6-year-old's fantasy when he got behind the controls of a giant "mech" robot. The Verge reports that Bezos tried out the 13-foot-tall (4 meters) robot yesterday (March 19) at his company's private Machine Learning, Home Automation, Robotics and Space Exploration (MARS) conference. Video of the bot, developed by Hankook Mirae Technology in South Korea, first surfaced in December in promotional clips. Live Science was skeptical of the robot's existence and functionality at the time.  But the new video reveals that the robot does, indeed, exist. However, it's far from clear how much the mech (a term for piloted, humanoid robots) can really do. Bezos flails the arms around using controls in the robot's torso cockpit, but the robot does not take any steps and is tethered to the ceiling, presumably for safety reasons.  Giant mech The robot does not pick anything up in the video, either, which is nota...

There are very few companies that can boast of a product portfolio as diverse as Xiaomi. Now, the Chinese company has expanded its product range even further as it has launched its smart shoes powered by Intel technology. The '90 Minutes Ultra Smart Sportswear' shoes (yes, this is the name) come with Intel's Curie chip and provide users with information such as distance travelled and calories burnt. The smart shoes from Xiaomi, developed by Shanghai-based Runmi Technology Co. Ltd, come with 60 days of battery life and have Intel's compact Curie chip that stores all the fitness related data, reports GizChina. The shoes are reportedly aimed at professional runners/athletes and come with arch design and anti-skid features. The shoes are able to detect movement and can be used for walking, running, or even climbing, as per the report. The smart shoes from Xiaomi are available in Black and Surf Blue colour options for men while Black and Pink colour options for wo...

Spring cleaning tip from Sweden: If you're wondering what do to with that extra space in the garage or den, why not turn the room into a giant 3D printer? That's the Swedes for you — always thinking. Swedish inventor Torbjørn Ludvigsen has spent the last three years developing a new kind of large-format 3D printer that can build furniture-sized objects in any room — surprisingly easily and relatively cheaply. Ludvigsen's invention, the Hangprinter, employs a system of wires and computer-controlled pulleys anchored to the walls, floor, and ceiling. Once installed, the Hangprinter essentially uses the room itself as a casing. The Hangprinter isn't the first large-format, caseless 3D-printing system, but  it is unique  in several ways. For one thing, it's cheap. All the hardware and firmware components can be purchased for about $250. Also, the design is open source, meaning that anyone can download the instructions and add improvements — or incorporate upgra...

It’s called smartphone, but is it really smart? After all, most people use the smartphone to browse  social networks , listen to  music , play  games ,  make memes  and upload photos to  Instagram . Not much advanced intelligence needed to run those things. However the smartphone is essentially a small computer. You can do pretty amazing things with it including  launch it into space as a nanosatellite . But that is for dedicated use. In cases where you want to keep using your smartphone for your online activities, you can also set your smartphone to do other things like locate your missing car, lock and unlock your homes, watch your health and contact your relatives if you get into an accident, etc. Check out a few other ways you can make your  smartphone smarter, and your life easier . You’ll probably look at your smartphones differently now. Viper SmartStart Make the Mercedes-Benz owner envy you, with  Viper SmartStart , a dev...