DNA Jewelry

Diamonds may be forever, but what's more unique and rare than even the most precious stones on Earth? The code of life, said Swiss chemist Robert Grass, the mastermind behind Identity Inside, a project that aims to create ultrapersonalized jewelry embedded with a loved one's DNA.
The inspiration behind the custom-made baubles came from Grass' professional work to develop technology to stabilize and store DNA. First, the purchaser needs to collect saliva samples (with a cotton swab on the inside of his or her cheek). This is then sent to Grass' lab in Switzerland, where the sample is processed and DNA is extracted and purified. The scientists add chemicals to the liquid solution containing the DNA to promote the growth of glass that "fossilizes" and encapsulates the DNA at room temperature.

New type of Carbon

Scientists have designed a new type of carbon that is harder and brighter than naturally formed diamonds. For those who want to wear a one-of-a-kind sparkler on their fingers, the new material, called Q-carbon, also gives off a soft glow.For instance, the material can act as either a metal or a semiconductor, and is magnetic at room temperature.

 

The magnetic Q-carbon (Q stands for quenching) would make a perfect material for biological implants that sense magnetic fields. The tight fit between carbon atoms also means electrons are bursting to get out of the carbon atoms, so the slightest voltage can spur carbon atoms to release electrons, creating a soft glow. That makes it perfect for creating screen displays that use less power, Narayan said.And its incredible hardness makes it the perfect material for deep-sea drilling.

Lightest metal ever

The material, known as a "microlattice," was developed by scientists at HRL Laboratories in Malibu, California, which is co-owned by Boeing and General Motors. The new microlattice is made up of a network of tiny hollow tubes and is roughly 100 times lighter than Styrofoam.
In an effort to save fuel, aerospace and automotive companies constantly strive to make their materials as lightweight as possible without sacrificing structural integrity. The process used to build the new microlattices holds huge promise, the researchers say, because the materials created are not only incredibly light, but also very strong.



The microlattice’s network of interconnected hollow tubes mimics the structure of bridge supports, the researchers said. But in this case, the walls of the tubes are just 100 nanometers thick — 1,000 times thinner than the width of a human hair — meaning that the material is 99.99 percent air.
The structure is built using an innovative additive manufacturing process, similar to 3D printing. But while 3D printing builds up structures layer by layer, the solution developed by HRL Labs uses special polymers that react to light to form the entire structure in one go.

Laser-armed cameras

With the help of lasers, cameras can track moving objects hidden around corners, scientists say. The finding could one day help vehicles see around blind corners to avoid collisions, researchers added.
Laser scanners are now regularly used to capture 3D images of items. The scanners bounce pulses of light off targets, and because light travels at a constant speed, the devices can measure the amount of time it takes for the pulses to return. This measurement reveals how far the light pulses have traveled, which can be used to recreate what the objects look like in three dimensions.Prior research suggested that lasers could help locate items hidden around corners by firing light pulses at surfaces near the objects. These surfaces can act like mirrors, scattering the light onto any obscured targets. By analyzing the light that is reflected off the objects and other surfaces back to the scanner, researchers can reconstruct the shapes of the items.

Virtual reality tech

That glorious moment when the entire family was laughing over dinner. The epiphany you had when you reached the peak of your favorite mountain. If only you could travel back and experience those instances again.
A group of engineers is hoping to do just that with a virtual reality (VR) system that lets you take 3D videos with your phone and an accompanying virtual reality headset that lets you experience those memories again, whenever you want. Called Teleport, the new system includes an aluminum 3D camera with two lenses, each of which acts like one of your eyes to capture the images from a slightly different perspective. Like your brain, the camera then combines these two views into a 3D picture.

Energy of atom

For the first time, scientists have accomplished a feat long thought impossible — they have measured the energy of incredibly short-lived arrangements of atoms that occur as chemical reactions are happening. This finding could help shed light on the precise inner workings of chemical reactions too complex to understand by other methods, the researchers said. Now, for the first time, scientists have measured the amount of energy required to reach a transition state.The researchers investigated a kind of chemical reaction known as an isomerization, in which a molecule undergoes a change of structure. Future research can analyze more complex reactions, such as ones where two molecules come together or one molecule breaks into two, the scientists said.

Wearable keyboards

The Apple Watch and Google Glass are some of the most widely known wearable devices, but the ways users can interact with these "smart" gadgets are limited. For instance, it would be pretty difficult to type a message out on the face of a watch. And forget even trying with a pair of smart glasses. But now, researchers have developed wearable keyboards made of electronics knitted together like fabric that could lead to a new kind of human-machine interface.
Right now, the key way that people interact with computers is by using the keyboard, researchers say. However, creating wearable keyboards for wearable electronics is a challenging task — such keyboards have to be large to fit enough keys to be useful, and must be flexible and stretchable to follow the movements of the human body.

 

BB-8 Droid brought to life

A software engineer in Canada recently created a 3D-printed replica of the adorable BB-8 robot from the new "Star Wars" movie. The force is strong with this one.
J.R. Bedárd was inspired to build his own version of the roly-poly robot after the real BB-8 droid (the one used in the film "Star Wars: The Force Awakens") took to the stage at Star Wars Celebration, a fan convention held in April in Anaheim, California. Fans like Bedárd were amazed that the bot — which has a half dome for a head and a spherical body that rolls over the ground — actually appeared in the film and that the robot was not the product of computer-generated imagery (CGI).
Once he saw that such an unusual-looking bot could be built, Bedárd said he couldn't resist making a (slightly modified) one for himself.

Extending iPhone's Battery life

 there are a few ways to delay the inevitable death of your phone's battery and one is remarkably simple — just get an additional battery and add it to the one you already have. That's the strategy Apple seems to be promoting with its newest product, the "smart" battery case for the iPhone 6 and 6s. Apple's new case contains a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery that doubles the time you can use your phone before it dies.It seems that, if you want to keep your iPhone looking lean, you'll have to forgo the battery case for now. But are there other ways to extend your battery life that don't involve adding bulk to your phone? Yes, there is, said Paul Shearing, a chemical engineer at the University College London in the United Kingdom.

Closing down apps that aren't in use and turning off GPS or Wi-Fi services when you don't need them — these actions are "remarkably beneficial" when it comes to conserving battery life, Shearing told Live Science. And there are a few other steps you can take to save your phone's juice, as well.
Your phone uses a lot of power just keeping your apps up-to-date. Turning off the "background refresh" setting on these apps can save you some battery power. The same thing goes for notifications. If you don't need to be notified every time you get a like on a Facebook photo or receive a new email, then disable notifications for these apps. You might notice that your battery drains more slowly as a result, PC Mag reports. (Both these tricks can be done by going into "Settings" on your phone.)

HDR and Wide Color Gamut

With pixel resolution mostly solved, the industry has moved onto the next problem: how to make better pixels. Over the last few years, manufacturers, content creators and standards bodies have been working on improving the other two main parts of an image: contrast ratio (dynamic range) and color space (gamut). Combined, these two innovations allow for a significantly greater picture, one that is significantly noticeable by viewers. The resulting two technologies that manufacturers will promote during the next few years are high dynamic range (HDR) and wide color gamut (WCG).
HDR: Killer contrast
Dynamic range, in this context, is what most refer to as contrast ratio. Contrast ratio, in layman's terms, is the ratio between the brightest whites and the darkest blacks a display can reproduce. Despite marketing hype, a 100:1 contrast ratio, particularly on a projection system, is a very, very good image in today's video world.
However, humans can see far beyond a 10,000:1 contrast ratio, and HDR will get many displays much closer to that level. This is a very promising development because the human eye is very sensitive to changes in contrast due to the anatomical structure of the eye.



Wide Color Gamut: 50 percent more hues
High dynamic range alone is enough to be extremely bullish about the new wave of displays hitting the market. However, it's only half of the equation. The other half of the equation is in the color that a display can reproduce. Most displays today use an ITU (International Telecommunications Union) standard called rec.709, which standardizes the maximum values of the primary colors: red, blue and green and any colors in between.

Electronic circuits

Scientists have developed a way to produce soft, flexible and stretchy electronic circuits and radio antennas by hand, simply by writing on specially designed sheets of material.
This technique could help people draw electronic devices into existence on demand for customized devices, researchers said in a new study describing the method.
Whereas conventional electronics are stiff, new soft electronics are flexible and potentially stretchable and foldable. Researchers around the world are investigating soft electronics for applications such as wearable and implantable devices.

 

The new technique researchers developed creates circuits by fusing, or sintering, together bits of metal to form electrically conductive wires. But the newly developed process does not use heat, as is often the case with sintering. Instead, this method involves soft sheets made of silicone rubber that have many tiny droplets of liquid metal embedded inside them. Pressing down on these sheets using, for instance, the tip of a pen, ruptures the capsules, much like popping miniature water balloons, and the liquid metal inside can pool to form circuit elements.

Pocket-sized microscope

A sleek, smartphone-powered microscope, dubbed μPeek, recently reached its funding goal on Kickstarter. The device, which attaches to the back of any smartphone (over the top of the camera lens), is about the size of a credit card and is controlled via an app, allowing you to view crystal-clear images of tiny objects and make adjustments to the microscope right on your phone.
But the powerful microscope isn't "just another magnifying lens for your smartphone," Patrick Galliker, co-founder and CEO of Scrona, the company behind μPeek, said in a Kickstarter video promoting the new device. The microscope is equipped with a motorized lens and sophisticated optical components — two things usually found on expensive (and relatively big) professional microscopes.

To use μPeek, attach the device to your phone and place it on any surface that you want to look at on the microscopic level. You can peer at the microcosm contained within the living room carpet or get a close-up view of a fallen leaf, for example. If you'd rather use μPeek to look at something on a microscope slide, you can do that, too. The device comes with a standard-size slide holder and a set of blank slides, plus a guide that explains how to prepare specimens.

Elevator in space

The elevator into space – The Japanese engineering and construction firm Obayashi announced this year that they have the ability and intention to set in motion a 36,000km elevator into space, to be completed within forty years.

Biometric passports

Biometric and electronically enhanced passports – Perhaps the biggest factor keeping people where they come from is not geography, not nostalgia, nor family, but passports. Human will can overcome nearly any physical obstacle — but no amount of wanting can overcome a denied passport at a political border.
So, what will the passport of the future look like? We’ve already begun incorporating RFID chips and other technology into passports — is biometric data the next logical carrier of our identification? And as human screening becomes replaced by technology, we can expect waiting times at passport controls to become incredibly diminished.
At the same time, though, this may be a slippery slope: no data is invulnerable to hacking and manipulation, and as history has unfortunately shown us, an individual’s biological and physical makeup is often the first to become discriminated against.

Locationless classroom

The locationless classroom – Some of the younger readers might not fully agree with me here, but it’s true: school is awesome. However, the current model of getting dropped off at a turning circle to “learn” between the hours of 8am and 2pm is probably not the end-all-be-all of scholastic efficiency — especially when you consider that nearly 10% of all highschoolers drop out.
Given our steady progression to locationless communication, it only makes sense that we’ll eventually take our schools into the cloud and digital classrooms will be come, at least in some part, the norm. This already happens in towns like Branson, CO, where the official population is only 100 but 850 children actually attend the local school via the internet.
When you combine this idea with the aforementioned holographic cell phone technology, one can envision a future where going to school involves projecting yourself into a virtual classroom environment to study with your other holographic classmates.

Flying cars

Flying cars – Yes, as in cars…that can fly. Okay, while you might not be the one piloting (or even passengering) the flying car, the engineers at Terrafugia have long been busy perfecting their Lightweight Sport Aircraft (LSA) concept and are currently accepting buyers to the tune of $270,000.

 

 

“The whole idea is to address the gap in travel between 100 and 400 miles,” said Cliff Allen, Terrafugia’s vice president of sales. “You could leave your home or office, drive to the nearest GA [General Aviation] airport, convert over to the aviation mode, fly to the airport nearest your destination and drive the last 10 or 15 miles.”
No word currently on whether you’ll actually be able to drive/fly (I prefer “flive”) your Terrafugia Transition by year’s end, but you can certainly obtain ownership — and odds are good that you’ll be airborne within the next few years.

Augmented reality glasses

Augmented reality everything – Google will begin selling augmented reality glasses that stream information in real time onto a user’s eyeball. Which means that finally, you’ll never have to remove your eyes from your Twitter/reddit/Facebook news feed.
Assuming our appetite for more information, more often, as fast as possible doesn’t start to diminish, we can only expect that our visible realities will inevitably become subject to the changes we choose to make upon them. Probably the biggest proponent of this idea is Ray Kurzweil, who discusses how in the future our entire realities will be created through nanobots that “re-engineer” our perceptions of the world around us by communicating directly with the brain.

Holographic mobile phones

Self-charging holographic mobile phones – That’s a mouthful. Let’s simplify: first of all, we have had, for a long time, wristwatches that power themselves by the regular motion of the wearer. Today, cell phone companies are already unveiling kinetic motion-powered cell phones…meaning the scourge of battery life may plague you no more.
As for holographic phone calls, this is something just about every major cell phone player is putting R&D money into — I guess people just love that Star Wars scene with Obi-Wan coming out of R2-D2 too much not to make it happen.
So, to recap: charger-free cellphones that project a holographic video of you and the person you’re calling. So what does that mean for travel? Well, let’s say you’re on vacation in Dubai, and your office calls and needs you in a meeting — you won’t go, but your holographic self will. The more we can connect the physical world — even if it’s just a lifelike representation — the less influence geographic boundaries have over us all.

Speech-to-speech translation

Speech-to-speech translation – Imagine you’re in India (or, if you are in India, continue being in India). This is a place where foreign languages and dialects are constantly coming together and increasingly demand a translation service. Now imagine that when someone speaks to you in a foreign language, an audio receiver automatically picks up their speech, translates it into your language, and plays it back for you. This is already a reality.
What this means is that within a year or two, you’ll be interacting with foreign languages in an unprecedented way — as puzzles to solve rather than pictures, whole stories to understand. I’m not going to be the one to decide if seamless translation is a good thing…but I do know that no matter how good the technology may be, there will always be that person who has trouble using it.

Eco mode

Researchers at organizations like the Continental Corporation in Germany are focused on using technology to make cars more eco-friendly. According to Popular Mechanics, Continental is developing an interface that includes an “eco” mode, which can search for the most economical route and offer other “green” tips. The system rewards eco-friendly driving behavior — when the four-leaf clover display is filled green, the driver is eligible for rewards from their dealership.

Health monitor

Ford has announced the development of a car seat with sensors to monitor your heart rate using electrical impulses. Mitsubishi Electric has plans to take this much further, and they believe such an interface will be a reality within the decade.
“Things like the seat position can be customized for all kinds of people,” said Kiyoshi Matsutani, Manager of Automotive Electronics Development Center, at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. “This is done through personal ID, facial temperature measurement, or heart-rate measurement using a Doppler sensor. In this way, the system senses the person’s health condition on that day. The aim is to position the seat and steering to match the driver, and provide information to help with safe driving.”

Invisible chauffeurs and copilots

Technically, the invisible chauffeur already exists — Google has been test-driving driverless cars in California. Nevada recently approved licenses for “autonomous vehicles,” meaning if you see an empty car cruise down the strip, there’s actually a chance it isn’t a drunken hallucination. And General Motors claims it will have its own driverless cars on road by 2018. An invisible co-pilot, however, has already made its way into upcoming models.
Your car will help you parallel park — if you’ve got a Lexus LS 460 L, the Advanced Parking Guidance System asks you to align the car and put it in reverse before tapping a button. After that, take your hands off the steering wheel, control the speed with your foot on the brake, and let the car manueuver its way in.

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Cruise control can go beyond staying at a set speed. With radar sensors on the front of your car, the system will detect the speed of and distance between you and the car in front of you, adjusting cruise control to keep a safe distance.
The co-pilot will also watch out for lateral collisions by using a variety of sensor technologies — lidar, radar, ultrasound, video — to monitor the area surrounding the car and, when another car or object gets too close, applying a “directional impulse” tug to the steering wheel.

Remote Control

At the Busan International Motor Show in South Korea last month, Hyundai Motor introduced Bluelink, an IT controlling system that allows smartphone owners to find, unlock, and start their car remotely, as well as turn on the AC and opt to receive texts if there is damage or a break-in. BMW is working on remote-controlled parking.
The next version? Maybe an app that memorizes your preferences and utilizes GPS to detect your proximity to your car.

Digital Goods

Also known as apps. A shift from hardware to software in car systems will mean that by 2020, you won’t need to bring your car in for an actual installation every time you need an upgrade. Just like with your smartphone, it’ll be as simple as visiting the app store. And as Car and Driver pointed out, these systems are relatively inexpensive for car makers, as the technology is already standard in the computer and mobile industries.
This paves the way for developers to focus on entertainment and utilities apps specifically for the driver. Apps to find your “perfect match” on the road. Apps that adjust the music to suit your mood. Apps that adjust the lighting to calm you in stressful situations. Apps that wake you up when you start to drift off thanks to soft music and dim lights.

Car-to-X Communication

There’s some overlap between car-to-car and car-to-X technology. BMW prefers car-to-X, as they’re looking into designing a system that allows cars to communicate with other systems outside of those in vehicles.
One of these research projects is known as PROTON-PLATA (programmable telematics onboard radio), conducted by DEUFRAKO, a Franco-German cooperation in traffic research. The project is addressing the issues posed by a wide range of digital standards and radio frequencies currently in use in digital broadcasting and mobile telecommunications, all of which are continually upgraded into their “next generations” about every two years. Because the life cycle of a car is significantly longer, drivers are constantly “falling behind” when new systems are released.
The PROTON-PLATA project is researching whether SDR (software defined radio) is the possible answer — technology which will allow all of these systems to be implemented in a single hardware unit.
BMW’s AMULETT (active mobile accident avoidance and mitigation of accident effects through cooperative data acquisition and tracking technology) project focuses on using car-to-X systems to actually communicate with people. The system includes a radio transponder that cyclists and pedestrians wear, which notifies the driver when the wearer is crossing the street or stepping out from behind a parked car.

Car-To-Car Communication

Unlike driver-to-driver communication, this (probably) won’t involve middle fingers. Once cars are connected thanks to technologies such as Intel’s M2M (Machine-to-Machine), they’ll be able to share data with other cars on the road and warn drivers of accidents, as well as figure out alternate routes based on real-time information — which in turn will help cut down on traffic and increase safety on the road.
As an example, the Car2Car Communication Consortium points out a fairly commonplace scenario: A motorcycle is riding alongside or just behind a larger vehicle on a main road, while you wait at an upcoming intersection to make a right turn onto that road. The larger vehicle turns off the road, and because you still can’t see the motorcycle, you pull out — right in its path. With car-to-car technology, both you and the motorcyclist would receive a warning early on, which would likely help avoid a collision.

Digital dashboard

You’re on the road and it’s time to find a hotel. Today, you might fumble with your phone, use an app to search for something nearby, and get directions. Or maybe you’d use that GPS device suction-cupped to your window.
But by 2020, your dashboard will likely resemble a giant iPad. Ideally, that means your car’s system can be linked to whatever cloud service your smartphones and tablets use, allowing you to keep up with texts, calls, emails, social network updates, and apps from behind the wheel. So when you’re ready to check in, you can just open apps like HRS Hotel Portal with a vocal command and talk your car through a map-based search, browse rates and room types, view photos and videos (while you’re parked, hopefully), and book a room.
Toyota calls it HMI (Human-Machine Interface), a system they’re already working on in partnership with Intel and Microsoft. These digital dashboards may turn your USB mobile broadband modem or smartphone into a wireless router, like Ford’s Sync system. Or they could connect with Bluetooth devices like Kia’s Uvo, so making calls and finding music are all voice-controlled.

Voice Recognition

I take it back — this is the most vital technological advancement in automobiles. If texting increases accident rates, what will happen when drivers can tweet, update their Facebook page, and watch videos on YouTube?
Voice recognition is still making its way from novelty to necessary, even in the smartphone world, as it’s proven a difficult technology to master. But there’s arguably a more urgent need to succeed in this field for car manufacturers than in any other industry; already, the US Department of Transportation is calling to require voice input control of smartphones, mp3 players, tablets, and any other devices drivers may use in the car.
Unfortunately, this technology may also prove to be the most expensive for auto makers. As of now, Apple’s Siri is the only voice recognition system that’s been highly praised — and even Siri is a long, long way from whatever Kirk had on the Enterprise.

Crash-proof cars

Crash-proof cars have been promised by Volvo, to be made possible by using radar, sonar, and driver alert systems. Considering automobile crashes kill over 30,000 people in the U.S. per year, this is definitely a welcome technology.

Web 3.0

Web 3.0 – What will it look like? Is it already here? It’s always difficult to tell just where we stand in terms of technological chronology. But if we assume that Web 1.0 was based only upon hyperlinks, and Web 2.0 is based on the social, person-to-person sharing of links, then Web 3.0 uses a combination of socially-sourced information, curated by a highly refined, personalizable algorithm (“they” call it the Semantic Web). We’re already in the midst of it, but it’s still far from its full potential.

Insect-sized robot spies

Insect-sized robot spies aren’t far off from becoming a reality, with the military currently hard at work to bring Mission Impossible-sized tech to the espionage playground. Secret weapon: immune to bug spray.

Light Peak

Light Peak technology, a method of super-high-data-transfer, will enable more than 100 Gigabytes per second — and eventually whole terabytes per second — within everyday consumer electronics. This enables the copying of entire hard drives in a matter of seconds, although by this time the standard hard drive is probably well over 2TB.

Portable laser pens

Portable laser pens that can seal wounds – Imagine you’re hiking fifty miles from the nearest human, and you slip, busting your knee wide open, gushing blood. Today, you might stand a chance of some serious blood loss — but in less than a decade you might be carrying a portable laser pen capable of sealing you back up Wolverine-style.

Space tourism

Space tourism will hit the mainstream. Well, sorta. Right now it costs around $20-30 million to blast off and chill at the International Space Station, or $200,000 for a sub-orbital spaceflight from Virgin Galactic. But the market is growing faster than most realize: within five years, companies like Space Island, Galactic Suite, and Orbital Technologies may realize their company missions, with space tourism packages ranging from $10,000 up-and-backs to $1 million five-night stays in an orbiting hotel suite.

DNA Sequencing

$100 personal DNA sequencing is what’s being promised by a company called BioNanomatrix, which the company founder Han Cao has made possible through his invention of the ‘nanofluidic chip.’ What this means: by being able to cheaply sequence your individual genome, a doctor could biopsy a tumor, sequence the DNA, and use that information to determine a prognosis and prescribe treatment for less than the cost of a modern-day x-ray. And by specifically inspecting the cancer’s DNA, treatment can be applied with far more specific — and effective — accuracy.

Flight by Solar-powered plane

The first around-the-world flight by a solar-powered plane will be accomplished by now, bringing truly clean energy to air transportation for the first time. Consumer models are still far down the road, but you don’t need to let your imagination wander too far to figure out that this is definitely a game-changer. Consider this: it took humans quite a few milennia to figure out how to fly; and only a fraction of that time to do it with solar power.

Terabyte SD Card

A 1 Terabyte SD Memory Card probably seems like an impossibly unnecessary technological investment. Many computers still don’t come with that much memory, much less SD memory cards that fit in your digital camera. Yet thanks to Moore’s Law we can expect that the 1TB SD card will become commonplace in 2014, and increasingly necessary given the much larger swaths of data and information that we’re constantly exchanging every day (thanks to technologies like memristors and our increasing ever-connectedness). The only disruptive factor here could be the rise of cloud-computing, but as data and transfer speeds continue to rise, it’s inevitable that we’ll need a physical place to store our digital stuff.

Eye of Gaia

The Eye of Gaia, a billion-pixel telescope will be sent into space to begin photographing and mapping the universe on a scale that was recently impossible. With the human eye, one can see several thousand stars on a clear night; Gaia will observe more than a billion over the course of its mission — about 1% of all the stars in the Milky Way. As well, it will look far beyond our own galaxy, even as far as the end of the (observable) universe.

Electronic Paper

The Rise of Electronic Paper – Right now, e-paper is pretty much only used in e-readers like the Kindle, but it’s something researchers everywhere are eager to expand upon. Full-color video integration is the obvious next step, and as tablet prices fall, it’s likely newspapers will soon be fully eradicated from their current form. The good news: less deforestation, and more user control over your sources.

Machine Brain Interface

The paralyzed will walk. But, perhaps not in the way that you’d imagine. Using a machine-brain interface, researchers are making it possible for otherwise paralyzed humans to control neuroprostheses — essentially mechanical limbs that respond to human thought — allowing them to walk and regain bodily control. The same systems are also being developed for the military, which one can only assume means this project won’t flounder due to a lack of funding.

iPhone 6 and iOS in Business

Every time Apple comes out with a new product, the media is abuzz with excitement.  This shouldn’t come as a surprise — Apple is the technology leader who not only has its pulse on future technology trends, but sets the trends.
The launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus the week before last didn’t disappoint — it was filled with fanfare, color and a new toy (i.e. the Apple Watch). However, as the founder of an app development platform company, it was a sleeper. Why? From the consumer technology perspective, it didn’t tell us anything that we don’t already know — i.e. the world continues to shift away from PCs to mobile computing (hence the iPhone 6’s larger screens, faster processor, extra battery life and 128 GB storage capacity); and native apps along with their push notifications have won the battle over responsive design mobile websites with regard to content delivery and user experience (native apps will be the software that allow for information to be displayed on  the Apple Watch operating system).
Notwithstanding this, what I found interesting about the launch was the innuendo (or lack thereof) regarding the importance of the new devices to the future of mobile and business.  Keep in mind, it was only two months ago that Apple and IBM announced their partnership with respect to enterprise mobility and business apps.  Since then, not a whole lot has been said about what this partnership means or is intended to accomplish.
Regardless of whether the importance of the new Apple devices to business was articulated or not during the launch, there definitely is a correlation between the new hardware, Apple’s latest operating system, iOS 8, and the future of business computing — particularly as it applies to the role of IT.
One of the questions being asked around corporate America (and beyond) is how do we take advantage of the mobile device that almost all of our important audiences — employees, customers, partners, vendors, etc. — have in their possession all the time?  How do we go about creating native apps to deliver information through the mobile device?  Should the role of implementing a mobile business strategy exist within IT departments who have their own agendas and might not fully understand or empathize with the day-to-day issues business unit leaders face in their work?  Or should it reside with the business leaders who understand their respective challenges and may even have thoughts on how mobile can help them?
Depending on the organization and the infrastructure and resources it possesses, such a transfer of responsibility from IT to business units may happen sooner than later.  Presently, businesses are developing native apps in the following ways:

• Internal development for those that have appropriate resources on staff to do so
• Outsourcing development to third party developers for those that have financial resources to allocate
• Nothing at all because they don’t know where to start and fear the time and expense that might be involved

So what does this mean for IT?  As we see from Apple and their new devices, the paradigm has already changed with respect to how companies deliver and communicate content, data and information. Even today, mobile computing and the cloud have rendered personal computers less relevant.
The next paradigm shift to occur will be the changing role of IT from tactical practitioner to consultant charged with helping business units look beyond the walls of their organizations to determine how best to use mobile technology in their work.

Robotic Era

In a recent study by the Pew Research Internet Project and Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Center, 1,800 technology experts were asked about the future of man vs. machine in 2025. Will we live harmoniously with robotic technology, or will virtual employees displace humans?
More than half (52%) said they believe that the potential impact of technology will transform the type of work done today and will create new and greater value added roles. In contrast, just under half (48%) said they predict robots will take more jobs from humans than they create, expressing concerns that technology will cause an economic shrinkage in the workforce.
This fear is nothing new. If there were no fear, we would likely not be talking about radical change. When the cotton gin was introduced, it induced panic that it would eliminate jobs. On some farms the machine was set ablaze. We imagine dystopian futures, but throughout history technology has not only provided efficiencies to organizations and provided better products to customers but has also improved the quality of life for employees.


Increased automation is also supporting growth of business volumes without eradicating margin. In Sweden, Teliasonera’s service provider subsidiary, Cygate was able to increase its number of customers and revenues by 56% over two years without having to expand its delivery team. Most importantly customer satisfaction rose in parallel to achieve a 15% improvement as the team re-scoped roles to place maximum effort on the factors that customers valued most highly. What’s more, with the use of virtual engineers, Cygate’s human engineers have shifted their workload to focus on value creating activities, leading to increased job satisfaction. Technology also enables people to do radically different jobs.
Today’s Mad Men bear little resemblance to their Don Draper forerunners. Digital marketing has created a surge in new tools that capitalize on the capability of mobile and online communication. People have not only developed new skills in order to master those technologies but have invented new processes to reach customers.
Without a doubt, robotic and cognitive systems will assume a major role in tomorrow’s economy. Their impact in the workforce will be felt globally and at a more accelerated pace than any previous shifts in technology-led change. We are redefining the role of the human being in the workplace, and our ability to find new jobs is only limited by our imagination.
I believe that technology will create more jobs than it takes away in the medium term, and it will allow employees to have jobs that are more interesting, relevant and satisfying. How quickly we embrace this potential and adapt to exploit new possibilities will determine how long it takes us to define new roles which replace those no longer required.

DRM

Petrified of piracy, Hollywood has long relied on technical means to keep copies of its output from making the rounds on peer-to-peer networks. It hasn't worked: Tools to bypass DRM on just about any kind of media are readily available, and feature films often hit BitTorrent even before they appear in theaters. Unfortunately for law-abiding citizens, DRM is less a deterrent to piracy than a nuisance that gets in the way of enjoying legally obtained content on more than one device.

             It's not what it is, it's what it isn't--axing DRM means no more schemes to prevent you from moving audio or video from one form of media to another. The most ardent DRM critics dream of a day when you'll be able to take a DVD, pop it in a computer, and end up with a compressed video file that will play on any device in your arsenal. Better yet, you won't need that DVD at all: You'll be able to pay a few bucks for an unprotected, downloadable version of the movie that you can redownload any time you wish.
             Technologically speaking, nothing is stopping companies from scrapping DRM tomorrow. But legally and politically, resistance persists. Music has largely made the transition already--Amazon and iTunes both sell DRM-free MP3s that you can play on as many devices as you want.
Video is taking baby steps in the same direction, albeit slowly so far. One recent example: RealNetworks' RealDVD software (which is now embroiled in litigation) lets you rip DVDs to your computer with one click, but they're still protected by a DRM system. Meanwhile, studios are experimenting with bundling legally rippable digital copies of their films with packaged DVDs, while online services are tiptoeing into letting downloaders burn a copy of a digital movie to disc.
That's progress, but ending all DRM as we know it is still years off. Keep your fingers crossed--for 2020.

Gesture Based Remote Control

We love our mice, really we do. Sometimes, however, such as when we're sitting on the couch watching a DVD on a laptop, or when we're working across the room from an MP3-playing PC, it just isn't convenient to drag a hockey puck and click on what we want. Attempts to replace the venerable mouse--whether with voice recognition or brain-wave scanners--have invariably failed. But an alternative is emerging.

              Compared with the intricacies of voice recognition, gesture recognition is a fairly simple idea that is only now making its way into consumer electronics. The idea is to employ a camera (such as a laptop's Webcam) to watch the user and react to the person's hand signals. Holding your palm out flat would indicate "stop," for example, if you're playing a movie or a song. And waving a fist around in the air could double as a pointing system: You would just move your fist to the right to move the pointer right, and so on.
             Gesture recognition systems are creeping onto the market now. Toshiba, a pioneer in this market, has at least one product out that supports an early version of the technology: the Qosmio G55 laptop, which can recognize gestures to control multimedia playback. The company is also experimenting with a TV version of the technology, which would watch for hand signals via a small camera atop the set. Based on my tests, though, the accuracy of these systems still needs a lot of work. 
Gesture recognition is a neat way to pause the DVD on your laptop, but it probably remains a way off from being sophisticated enough for broad adoption. All the same, its successful development would excite tons of interest from the "can't find the remote" crowd. Expect to see gesture recognition technology make some great strides over the next few years.

64-Bit Computing allows for more RAM

In 1986, Intel introduced its first 32-bit CPU. It wasn't until 1993 that the first fully 32-bit Windows OS--Windows NT 3.1--followed, officially ending the 16-bit era. Now 64-bit processors have become the norm in desktops and notebooks, though Microsoft still won't commit to an all-64-bit Windows. But it can't live in the 32-bit world forever.
             64-bit versions of Windows have been around since Windows XP, and 64-bit CPUs have been with us even longer. In fact, virtually every computer sold today has a 64-bit processor under the hood. At some point Microsoft will have to jettison 32-bit altogether, as it did with 16-bit when it launched Windows NT, if it wants to induce consumers (and third-party hardware and software developers) to upgrade. That isn't likely with Windows 7: The upcoming OS is already being demoed in 32-bit and 64-bit versions. But limitations in 32-bit's addressing structure will eventually force everyone's hand; it's already a problem for 32-bit Vista users, who have found that the OS won't access more than about 3GB of RAM because it simply doesn't have the bits to access additional memory.
              Expect to see the shift toward 64-bit accelerate with Windows 7; Microsoft will likely switch over to 64-bit exclusively with Windows 8. That'll be 2013 at the earliest. Meanwhile, Mac OS X Leopard is already 64-bit, and some hardware manufacturers are currently trying to transition customers to 64-bit versions of Windows (Samsung says it will push its entire PC line to 64-bit in early 2009). And what about 128-bit computing, which would represent the next big jump? Let's tackle one sea change at a time--and prepare for that move around 2025.

Wireless Power Transmission

Wireless power transmission has been a dream since the days when Nikola Tesla imagined a world studded with enormous Tesla coils. But aside from advances in recharging electric toothbrushes, wireless power has so far failed to make significant inroads into consumer-level gear.
             This summer, Intel researchers demonstrated a method--based on MIT research--for throwing electricity a distance of a few feet, without wires and without any dangers to bystanders (well, none that they know about yet). Intel calls the technology a "wireless resonant energy link" and it works by sending a specific, 10-MHz signal through a coil of wire; a similar, nearby coil of wire resonates in tune with the frequency, causing electrons to flow through that coil too. Though the design is primitive, it can light up a 60-watt bulb with 70 percent efficiency.
              Numerous obstacles remain, the first of which is that the Intel project uses alternating current. To charge gadgets, we'd have to see a direct-current version, and the size of the apparatus would have to be considerably smaller. Numerous regulatory hurdles would likely have to be cleared in commercializing such a system, and it would have to be thoroughly vetted for safety concerns.
Assuming those all go reasonably well, such receiving circuitry could be integrated into the back of your laptop screen in roughly the next six to eight years. It would then be a simple matter for your local airport or even Starbucks to embed the companion power transmitters right into the walls so you can get a quick charge without ever opening up your laptop bag.

32 Core CPU's

If your CPU has only a single core, it's officially a dinosaur. In fact, quad-core computing is now commonplace; you can even get laptop computers with four cores today. But we're really just at the beginning of the core wars: Leadership in the CPU market will soon be decided by who has the most cores, not who has the fastest clock speed.

             With the gigahertz race largely abandoned, both AMD and Intel are trying to pack more cores onto a die in order to continue to improve processing power and aid with multitasking operations. Miniaturizing chips further will be key to fitting these cores and other components into a limited space. Intel will roll out 32-nanometer processors (down from today's 45nm chips) in 2009.
              Intel has been very good about sticking to its road map. A six-core CPU based on the Itanium design should be out imminently, when Intel then shifts focus to a brand-new architecture called Nehalem, to be marketed as Core i7. Core i7 will feature up to eight cores, with eight-core systems available in 2009 or 2010. (And an eight-core AMD project called Montreal is reportedly on tap for 2009.)
After that, the timeline gets fuzzy. Intel reportedly canceled a 32-core project called Keifer, slated for 2010, possibly because of its complexity (the company won't confirm this, though). That many cores requires a new way of dealing with memory; apparently you can't have 32 brains pulling out of one central pool of RAM. But we still expect cores to proliferate when the kinks are ironed out: 16 cores by 2011 or 2012 is plausible (when transistors are predicted to drop again in size to 22nm), with 32 cores by 2013 or 2014 easily within reach. Intel says "hundreds" of cores may come even farther down the line. 

Memristors

Since the dawn of electronics, we've had only three types of circuit components--resistors, inductors, and capacitors. But in 1971, UC Berkeley researcher Leon Chua theorized the possibility of a fourth type of component, one that would be able to measure the flow of electric current: the memristor. Now, just 37 years later, Hewlett-Packard has built one.

           As its name implies, the memristor can "remember" how much current has passed through it. And by alternating the amount of current that passes through it, a memristor can also become a one-element circuit component with unique properties. Most notably, it can save its electronic state even when the current is turned off, making it a great candidate to replace today's flash memory.
Memristors will theoretically be cheaper and far faster than flash memory, and allow far greater memory densities. They could also replace RAM chips as we know them, so that, after you turn off your computer, it will remember exactly what it was doing when you turn it back on, and return to work instantly. This lowering of cost and consolidating of components may lead to affordable, solid-state computers that fit in your pocket and run many times faster than today's PCs.
Someday the memristor could spawn a whole new type of computer, thanks to its ability to remember a range of electrical states rather than the simplistic "on" and "off" states that today's digital processors recognize. By working with a dynamic range of data states in an analog mode, memristor-based computers could be capable of far more complex tasks than just shuttling ones and zeroes around.

             Researchers say that no real barrier prevents implementing the memristor in circuitry immediately. But it's up to the business side to push products through to commercial reality. Memristors made to replace flash memory (at a lower cost and lower power consumption) will likely appear first; HP's goal is to offer them by 2012. Beyond that, memristors will likely replace both DRAM and hard disks in the 2014-to-2016 time frame. As for memristor-based analog computers, that step may take 20-plus years.

Graphene

The wonder material Graphene is set to revolutionize the smartphone industry by replacing current touchscreen technology. Graphene is considerably cheaper than the materials used in most modern smartphones. Dr Alan Dalton of the University of Surrey led the investigation into the new material. Working alongside researchers at the University of Dublin, he oversaw the production of hybrid electrodes, the “building blocks of touchscreen technology”, using silver nanowires and graphene. It is a material that can conduct electricity and interpret touch commands whilst still being transparent. The team is currently working with industrial partners to “implement the research into future devices”.