Some New Interesting Technologies

Topic(s): me
2007-11-12 02:25:35 US/Pacific

First, on the gPhone. I haven't read much about it yet. But what I do know is it's not a really Google's phone. It sounds like Google tossed yet another Linux salad together and called it Android. Android will run on other company's hardware. To wit, Google will not be constructing a new phone. Thus, nothing noteworthy here really.

Second, on battery power. The limiting factor for most new tech toys is power. Lithium-ion batteries really were a giant leap forward over those old crappy nickel-metal batteries, but even lithium-ion can't keep up with the increasingly power hungry mobile gadgets.

Consider: I want my cell phone to play MP3's, browse the web via my 802.11g network, and take megapixel videos. And I want to not recharge for days on end. And when I must recharge, I want it to be fast. Maybe supercapacitors might fit that bill someday.

In addition to a supercapacitor in my cell phone, I want a high-efficiency solar panel on the back. So that I can recharge it without an electrical plug. At least in California. During the summer.

Third, on three-dimensional printers. Imagine downloading a schematic for a chair from IKEA. Your three-dimensional printer can take that schematic and create ("print") the chair! Extend this out to other ideas, like food. The possibilities are endless. Obviously, the technology has a long ways to go before it's viable in the home. But I can definitely see that distant day coming.

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