I spoke too soon.....

So over the weekend I blogged about my frustration that nothing in technology has really grabbed me by the short and curleys, thrown me around the room a few times and then gently lay me down for some real tech goodness. Ok, maybe I got a little carried away there, but I am frustrated that we really haven't had anything earth shattering released this year.

Disagree? C'mon, name something?

iPad? Brilliant, but a fizzer. ICS based tablets? Yeah cool, but it hasn't realligned my world the same time I saw an iPhone. There really hasn't been anything that's excited me greatly in 2012 about tech.

Until now.....

Meet, Pebble

Pebble is a smart watch, that pairs with your IOS or Android and runs it's own apps.

Going for a run and want to check your speed and time? Simply throw your iPhone in a bum bag (or fanny pack if you're that way inclined), start the app and check your speed, distance and time from your wrist.

Playing music at your dorm party and a sucky song comes on? Best party trick I can imagine is changing it from your wrist.

What is really cool about this, is that this watch does not come from Cupertino, Mountain View or Redmond. It comes from a handful of geeks who have designed and developed this little beauty on their own. They've sent the idea out to Kickstarter for funding and in the process have broken all records for the most funded device in the history of Kickstarter. Now thats cool.

So go check out the video, and use your imagination for how this could be used. Just remember, there is an SDK too, so you can even develop your own app for this bad boy.

Enjoy!

Where's The New Stuff?

Is it just me, or has technology been a little bereft of excitement of late?

2012 has given us the release of the new iPad, the HTC One X and....hmmm, ummm, well not much else!

Although we're a quarter of the way through our year I'm still yet to see a technology arrive that really excites me (the Lytro camera I posted about in my last blog was SOOOO 2011!)

So we've had 3D come to televisions, retina screens to tablets, more megapixels to our cameras....yes that means you Nikon D800 and your 36.3mp! Nothing though is really getting me excited.

What do I mean by excited? I remember walking into an Apple Store in Stamford, Connecticut some time in 2007, where I first saw the iPhone. I was stunned, shocked, excited all at once. I knew straight away that this was a game changer. My Nokia N95 and Blackberry Pearl dated by years in one swoop by Apple. I was amazed.

I want to feel that again. So who's it going to be? Apple, Sony, Samsung? Someone put your hand up and give me something revolutionary to play with. That doesn't mean another folding tablet Sony....geez!

So has anyone got any thoughts on whats going to be the next big thing? Feel free to share your thoughts!

What Is A Lytro?

Have you ever taken a great picture, spent time admiring your work, and then realise that it's just a bit out of focus? Or have you just gotten the focus completely wrong in the rush to get the snap away?

A new type of camera was released last year that in time, could make out of focus shots a thing of the past. It's called the "Lytro" Light Field Camera.

The Lytro doesn't loo like a conventional camera, nor does it act like one when capturing an image. The Lytro records information about where light is travelling, therefore building up an almost three dimensional scale of data that can be manipulated at a later date.

It's not an easy concept to understand, but have a read of what our friends at DPReview thought of the Lytro. It's a very interesting concept!

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/lytro/