The Future of Technology Vol.1

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Since the introduction of wireless internet, many have wondered what other wireless technologies there would be. Wireless printers, speakers, cell phones, and many more. Now you can add 3 more to that list.

The power cord has long been the enemy of many people around the world. You always had to place things according to where the plugs were or you'd have some cord running all across the room. Nobody really notices and thinks about the power cord ones its being used and its found its place, but if it could be thrown away, what a world of a difference it would make. Now there is a solution to get rid of some of those plugs, wireless charging. To get things straight, this piece of technology won't replace all of your plugs but its a huge step in the right direction to making the power cord obsolete. Currently there are two ways to wirelessly charge a device and they are being offered by two different companies. WildCharge will start selling a conductive charging pad and eCoupled will offer a inductive laptop specific pad with a compatible notebook all by the end of 2008. Both companies will offer adapters at a range of $30. If you have taken science and didn't fall asleep then you can guess what the difference and how each of these technologies work. Conductive charging passes electricity when two objects come in contact. Inductive charging happens when there is a physical gap between two objects.

Print from anywhere with this new piece of technology offered by Zink (Zero Ink) Instead of going online and going through the tedious process of uploading photos (Costco gets double thumbs down) you can print those photos wirelessly or connect it via a USB cable to the ZINK mobile printers. The name explains some but doesn't answer all. First there is no ink used, instead the printer will heat up the adhesive paper, and thus release the crystals used to make the photo. The downfall is, the images will be small, and not your regular size 4by6, the paper will instead be 2by3 and will be semi-gloss. The printers are unique because they are a product in itself. They offer two printers, a mobile one and a mobile camera version. The mobile will be able to wirelessly print pictures from a laptop, computer or wifi enabled product. The camera version is a camera and there is no word on how good it is but the website describes it as a "full featured digital camera...take digital photos like any other digital camera." The projected costs of these tools is $100 but there is no word on where they will be sold, so look out for them at your local Best Buy store.

Wires, wires, wires, they seem to mess up and make our lives more complicated, but Amimon is trying to put a stop while making a quick buck. They are going to be released to the consumers in 2008, but just this August they let electronic makers have a crack at the technology. The system allows you to wirelessly transmit an uncompressed 1080p picture via a 5GHz radio transmitter from a DVD player, cable box, or game console to a WHDI-equipped TV (adapters can be purchased for $300-$400 a pair as at least two are needed). Comparatively, a WHDI-equipped TV will have a premium of $200. WHDI is just a replacement to the HDMI cable so no worries that your picture quality will be worse, but no celebrating that you'll be getting a better one. In a couple of years though the adapters will cost $60 and the premium on a TV will drop to $10. With the benefit of much less cables, you'll be able to rearrange your TV room the way you dreamed.