New Florence. New Renaissance.

Tech for grandparents

“She was far from the only centenarian using technology for more than just medical monitoring and protection against falls. Contrary to stereotypes, computers, social networks, e-mail and even video games are becoming essential parts of older peoples’ lives.

Some of the highest growth rates in broadband use are happening among the elderly.”

New York Times which highlights products like PawPawMail, Big Screen Live, Presto (in photo which helps print email without requiring them to get on a PC) , Peek, Jitterbug and iChat which are helping the elderly.

See also a previous post on aging workforces

The multi-media bed

“Working with Auckland University of Technology's Business Innovation Centre, Govorko created the Somnus-Neu to be a media-rich oasis. A freestanding unit with motorized curtains and a retractable video screen, the bed has Wi-Fi, a docking station for electronics, a five-point audio system, and three zones of LED lighting -- reading, ambient, and floor -- all of which can be controlled by dual 17-inch touch-screen panels on either side of the bed….

…Govorko says he's in discussions with Yotel, the U.K.-based pod hotel chain, and expects the first beds will welcome weary travelers by the second half of 2010. Once production is under way, he also plans to target less conventional markets, such as hospitals. "Having been a patient, on and off, from silly motorcycle accidents over the years, I know that the hospital experience is lacking," he says. "Staring at the ceiling is not the greatest way to spend your time."

FastCompany

Rube Goldberg, move over!

Think of things you have never thought of using the following for (courtesy of TechNutters) and Tom Baynham and Ben Tyers who both went to Cambridge University found a use for them in this contraption.

• Golf ball putter
• Air puck table
• Hair drier
• Slinky
• Newton's Cradle
• Polo Stick
• Umbrella
• Self lighting lighter
• Chess Board
• Mobile Phones
• Darts

Just don’t try to calculate an ROI for it:)

 

The lost art of changing flat tires

 “It wasn't all that long ago when it seemed everyone knew that a jack and a tire iron were the tools you needed to change a flat. Not anymore. Experts say a growing number of drivers have no clue how to change a tire, instead relying on cell phones to call for help or high-tech tires that can run while flat.”

St. Petersburg Times

Look at the “jack and tire iron” we now have access to

• Run-Flat Tires
• Sensors that monitor tire pressure
• Nitrogen in tires
• Portable 12V Tire Pumps
• Tire sealants
• AAA Roadside app for iPhone

Picture Credit

Best Buy as Art Gallery

“As an electronics mega-retailer, Best Buy isn't normally interested in anything but moving huge quantities of TVs, computers and appliances out of its gaping doors. But the Houston St. location in Manhattan did something unexpected last night: it approvingly looked the other way while video artist Borna Sammak took over every single HDTV in the store for to display his latest work.

Borna Sammak's video paintings are meant for high-def televisions; the work mixes original processed footage and heavily treated rips from HD films--Planet Earth being a frequent source--all layered into a quick barrage of color and abstraction. So what better place to show it than on every available TV in our country's largest HDTV supplier?”

Popular Science

Mainstreaming tech for the disabled

Software developer Nuance Communications, for instance, invented voice command technology to help people who are unable to type on a computer. Today, the company's algorithms are used in products ranging from Amazon.com's latest Kindle e-reader to cars from Ford Motor . Meantime, Mattel is incorporating technology, initially intended to help paraplegics, into a soon-to-be-released game controlled by players' brainwaves.

BusinessWeek

Starbucks' new high-tech coffee

“Via is a combination of dried coffee and “micro-ground” coffee. According to Linnemann the dried part follows what is recognizable as industry procedure. Starbucks takes its beans and makes a liquid coffee extract, which gets reduced to dried form. But whereas your typical instant coffee maker is focused on yield and output, the Starbucks gang focused on taste, Linnemann says. Start with better beans, brew the coffee, and then break the coffee drying process down into smaller sub-steps to preserve the flavor. All with no chemicals. “We use the same equipment as the other guys, but how we use the equipment is much different,” Linnemann says. What that likely means is that the yield in the Starbucks process is much lower (the extraction level is lower). That is by far a more expensive way to go but one that preserves more of the flavor. It may also explain why Starbucks is charging around $1 per packet of the stuff.

So far so good. “But it is the micro-grinding technology where we really cracked the code,” Linnemann says. “

Fortune

Futuristic Alpine Hut

“The new refuge, at an altitude of 2,883 metres (9,349 feet) near Zermatt in the south-west, resembles a gigantic crystal, with metallic-looking cladding on the exterior, and an interior that is completely built with wood

…the shed, which can house up to 120 alpinists, is designed to obtain 90 percent of power needs from the sun. The remaining 10 percent would be mainly gas used for cooking and would be delivered by helicopter regularly.

Water will also be completely sourced from the surroundings. In the summer, water from melting glaciers will be collected and stored in a reservoir, and heated mainly by solar energy…

Built by 35 workers over two summers, the hut was constructed at a cost of 6.5 million Swiss francs (4.3 million euros, 6.3 million dollars) with some 3,000 helicopter trips required to ferry workers and materials up to the alpine location.”

Physorg

Breathable Buildings

“Beijing-based MAD Ltd. unveiled its solar eco-skin design for the Taichung Convention Center in Taiwan.

The landmark building design aims to meld future tech with natural shapes that evoke mountains dotted with crater-like openings.”

Check out the gallery at Popular Science

Oxo’s new markets

“Oxo’s kitchen and household products are winners with consumers, from its rubber-gripped potato peelers to its no-leak travel cups. The eye-catching designs have been featured in museum exhibitions and, despite premium prices, have continued selling well during the recession.

Having exhausted much of its original market, OXO is now branching out to office supplies, medical devices, and baby products.”

BusinessWeek