Google Glass – the augmented reality future is now, providing you adhere strictly to the end-user agreement…

Despite the Draconian restrictions imposed by Google on anyone foolish enough to fork out over £1,000 on a pair of Glass (Google can turn them off at any time, if it feels that you’ve overstepped the end-user agreement stipulations), apparently people are still extremely anxious so to do.

To us, Glass seems uncomfortably like the optical equivalent of those people in the late 1990s who’d stride towards you on the pavement, booming away to apparently no one in particular, until you realised they had a Bluetooth earpiece and were on the phone to their mum. Oh well, to each his own.

If you’re finding reality lacklustre, augmenting it in some way could well be the way forward. The latest issue of E&T magazine is an augmented reality special, looking at the myriad ways AR technology can be applied to engineering and technology. We look at the Google Glass project (as seen on the cover of the new issue); how augmented reality could soon have a serious impact on the defence, medical and education industries; the ways in which retailers are turning to augmented reality to drive sales, brand reinforcement, customer relationships, and to improve the shopping experience; whether AR has a useful place in the industrial sector; how augmented reality can be used to deliver more immersive travel and learning experiences; and finally at how to develop AR apps.

Click on the graphic for an expanded view.

Google Glass augmented reality computer

Phablets abound at CES 2013 – an annotated graphic

If there’s anything more exciting than new gadgets, it’s the new words our fine friends in the marketing and advertising industries invent in order to pimp them out to the masses and hopefully persuade the more gullible amongst us to open their wallets. Again. Enter the word “phablet”.

What is a phablet? A big smartphone. Or more simply, a mobile phone that’s too big simultaneously for your hand, your head and any of your coat pockets. These trends come in cycles, don’t they? We’re old enough to remember the heady days at the turn of the 21st century when the ambition of manufacturers the world over was to make phones as tiny as possible. Now we’ve got phablets that appear to be the equivalent of holding a Penguin paperback against the side of your head.

Oh well, who are we to argue with the vagaries of technology and design? Really, it’s all because Samsung hit a mild home run with its Galaxy Note II, so all the other tech companies have decided they want a piece of that action. Let the phablet wars begin.

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Phablets at CES 2013

 

Gadgets for your Christmas list 2012 – an annotated graphic

It’s the final fortnight before Christmas Day, so that gives us all less than 14 days to shop until either we drop or the stores start declining our over-stretched bank cards. Who’s got any money this year? Not us. Oh well, everyone needs a box of matches, a plastic comb and an orange, don’t they?

If you’re one of the lucky few that finds themselves short on ideas but long on cash, herewith is some seasonal gadget inspiration. It’s the usual Kindle Fires, iPads, Furbys, iPhones, Nintendos and such like. We hope this suggests some jumping-off points for your last-minute shopping.

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Holiday gadgets 2012

Rare earth minerals on the Pacific floor – an annotated graphic

Japanese scientists recently announced that they had identified huge deposits of rare earth minerals on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. Rare earth metals are crucial to making high-tech electronics. The discovery of minerals that can be readily extracted from the floor of the Pacific Ocean presents a stiff challenge to China’s current dominance of the metals market. E&T covered this rare earth minerals story in more detail earlier this week.

This helpful graphic gives an overview of the rare earth minerals market.

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Vast rare earth deposits found in the Pacific

Nintendo Wii U controller – an annotated graphic

The new Nintendo Wii U is as much about the controller as the console. A touchscreen and motion-sensors allow game play on both the controller or on TV, where new HD graphics put it on a par with its rivals.

Read the E&T news story from earlier this month for more details about the Nintendo Wii U and rival Sony’s Playstation Vita.

Meanwhile, here’s a nice graphic explaining the Wii U.

The Nintendo Wii U console, expected in 2012

My blackberry is not working

For anyone that missed it, here’s the Ronnie Corbett and Harry Enfield sketch from the Christmas special about problems with technology. If you’ve already seen it, it bears repeating – especially for the final gag. It’s fork handles for the iGeneration.