IBM Next 5 in 5: 2011 (by IBMLabs)
IBM unveils its sixth annual “Next 5 in 5” — a list of innovations with the potential to change the way people work, live and play over the next five years. The Next 5 in 5 is based on market and societal trends expected to transform our lives, as well as emerging technologies from IBM’s Labs around the world that can make these innovations possible.
In this installment: you will be able to power your home with the energy you create yourself; you will never need a password again; mind reading is no longer science fiction; the digital divide will cease to exist; and junk mail will become priority mail.
The Boxee Box is about to become a serious option for cord-cutters: Boxee CEO Avner Ronen just announced the Live TV adaptor, which will let you plug in an antenna or basic unencrypted cable and watch broadcast networks like NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox. (via Boxee Box Live TV adapter announced, adds network TV for $49 | The Verge)
Giant tablet table available for pre-order.
The Samsung SUR40 is the second generation of Microsoft’s Surface technology, and is aimed at the business market, although if you can afford the $8,400 price you can pre-order now.
Although it looks like an oversized tablet, the processor is slightly more powerful, with a 2.9GHz AMD Athlon II X2 processor and AMD HD6750M GPU to power graphics on the 40 inch display surface. While that processor is now around three years old, the graphics processor should still be able to handle most applications for business use, although for $8,400 I’d expect something slightly more modern.
The system features Samsung’s Pixelsense technology, which claims to allow individual pixels in the screen to ‘see’ what’s touching them, allowing over 50 simultaneous touch points. This means that ten people could perform multi-touch gestures at once on the screen with no problem - as long as the software supported that.
(via 8bitfuture)
New Flipboard app integrates Tumblr, LinkedIn
Now you can use flipboard to track tumblr dashboard
Available today, the latest edition of Flipboard, the social magazine for your iPad, simplifies how readers discover and browse the stories, social conversations and news they care about. With a new Content Guide for browsing sources, a social search bar for finding any person, topic or blog, and a new “one-tap” interaction that lets readers quickly dive into articles, Flipboard is more fun than ever to sit back and enjoy. And now Flipboard also brings LinkedIn’s popular professional network and news stories from LinkedIn Today to readers, creating custom industry magazines for LinkedIn members.
The Science Behind Four Loko
It turns out it’s not the alcohol and caffeine that gets you; it’s the psychology.
For one thing, caffeine doesn’t seem to affect the way that alcohol gets absorbed by the body. Moreover, many drugs, including alcohol, are known to be more potent if they are taken in an unusual context. In a 1976 paper in Science, Siegel termed this the “situational specificity of tolerance.” Environmental variables ranging from the room where a drug is administered to flavor cues can influence an individual’s drug-related tolerance. What this comes down to is classical Pavlovian conditioning. The body of a social drinker learns to prepare for the alcohol in response to the environment, before the alcohol is even ingested. Siegel’s argument is that people became especially drunk after drinking Four Loko because of the unexpected way in which it was presented: it doesn’t actually taste like alcohol.
Product Review: Kindle Fire
Make no mistake about it — the Fire is a proper tablet, with many (though not all) of the capabilities of something like an iPad. But the focus on this product is most certainly on lean-back experiences, and that’s reflected in the price, too. But can a $200 mini-tablet take on Apple’s behemoth? Posted via The VERGE, read more
Gadget: First Blackberry with QNX OS
Is this the first BlackBerry with the QNX OS? | The Verge
Tech: Balmer Bombshell: Driving Windows8 down to the phone
There’s been plenty of speculation, but Steve Ballmer just dropped the bombshell at a shareholder meeting: “We’ve got broad initiatives driving Windows down to the phone with Windows 8.” (via Microsoft bringing Windows 8 to phones | The Verge)
