Smarter Gadgets

Mikael Eklunk, of UC Berkeley’s Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society, is testing a new sensor network at a retirement home.  This network consists of sensors that are only about the size of a deck of cards, and are designed to detect when seniors fall or suffer from acute ailments.
If the [...]

According to dictionary.com, nanotechnology is the science and technology of building electronic circuits and devices from single atoms and molecules, and any fabrication technology in which objects are designed and built by the specification and placement of individual atoms or molecules or where at least one dimension is on a scale of nanometers.
By producing miniature [...]

Samsung now offers a sophisticated microwave oven called the Smart Oven, which is a combination of a convection, grill and microwave oven.  The cool part though is that even a novice can cook food to perfection because the oven allows the user to swipe a barcode on packaged foods, which the oven then reads, and [...]

At least since the days of the Jetsons, we’ve thought about having flying cars.  Terrafugia, a start-up created by Lemelson-MIT Student Prize winner Carl Dietrich and others at MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics is working to give us just that.  They’ve named this upcoming prototype, The Transition, which they describe as a “personal air [...]

U.S. Department of Energy Laboratory researchers have been working on getting smart appliances to communicate with the local power grid.  This would enable the appliances to determine when it would be most beneficial to power down, or use less energy.  They liken the technology to “shock absorbers” for the power grid.
When the power grid is [...]

A couple of kooky kitchen appliances are being worked on and may eventually come to the market.  One is a talking stove that tells you when the water has boiled, plays a ringtone when the oven is preheated, and even reads recipes to the novice cook.  Another is a soft, foldable refrigerator that can be [...]

So, you are standing in front of the latest gizmo at your local store, and are considering purchasing it. But you haven’t gone online yet to check out what the buzz is. What do others think of this gizmo? How is it rated? You don’t know, but Toshiba will allow you [...]

I thought I would start off by referencing an article on USAToday.com, which has an excellent overview of how everyday gadgets in our lives are getting smart. Here are a few excerpts from the article.
You can buy a backyard telescope loaded with global position satellite (GPS) technology so it can point out which stars [...]