Syncrony Blogs-Category-IT Industry

Project Natal - See Your Computing Future in Action Today

howard@syncrony.com — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:08:00 GMT

Earlier this year Microsoft announced a new gaming technology code named Project Natal. The new platform interprets data from various sensors including a camera, depth sensors and a microphone, in such a way as to remove the need for game control hardware. Without the need for game controllers to interact with their computers, gamers we be able to use their bodies and body motions to interact with their games.

What has to happen for this to work properly is for the Natal platform to recognise what the person is doing and to translate this, in near real-time, into signals that the software can understand and react to. (This also means that there is going to have to be tons of processing power available to do the job in way that delays do not become evident)

Since the Microsoft announcement, a wide range of gaming companies have been involved in Natal R&D. Last week at the E3 Gaming Show a demo of Natal by Peter Molyneux of Microsoft Game Studios showcased the capabilities in a stunning demo. Click here to watch the demo on YouTube

Bye Bye Mouse

After watching the demo a few times I believe that anyone involved in the design of interactive computer content (in our case websites) , has got to see this!
I think that the Natal technology gives a clear glimpse of how we are going to interact with our computers a few short years from now.

In a nutshell, your computer will recognize you, know your name, your moods and will interact with you in a meaningful way. See how Milo, the computer generated boy in the demo, can assess the mood of the woman he interacts with during the demo.

In a similar way, your computer will interact with your hand and body movements without the need for a mouse to translate your wishes by clicks and scrolls. And maybe we will be able to hand the computer documents in the same way as in the demo, instantly bridging the gap between the real world and the digital domain.

Some Tips to Save You From Cell Phone Radiation

howard@syncrony.com — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:24:00 GMT

The Environmental Working Group - an organization that studies the health implications of using cell phones has recently published a list of all major cell phones and the exact amount of radiation that each phone produces.

The study of course ranks the Worst Ten phones - that produce the most amount of radiation. The list is available here: Environmental Working Group Radiation List all Phones.

However an even more practical list coming out of the EWG is a short list of Eight Safety tips that any cell phone user can follow to reduce exposure to the radiation emitted by all cell phones.

Here they are in summary - but please click here to visit their web site and read the Safety Tips for yourself.

Buy a low radiation phone
Use a headset or a speaker
Listen More - Your phone only emits radiation when you talk
Hold phone away from your body when possible
Text more - Talk less - texting uses less power and the phone is away from your head when you text
Don't TALK When You Have a Poor Signal - poor signal causes the phone to emit more radiation
Limit Children's Exposure - young people's brains absorb up to twice the radiation of an adult brain (skull thickness higher in adults)
Don't waste your time with "Radiation Sheilds" such as covers, antennae caps - they often cause your phone to emit more radiation

Windows 7 Released to Manufacture

howard@syncrony.com — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:47:00 GMT

News out yesterday was that along with Windows 7 was released to manufacturing along with Server 2008 R2.

Steve Jobs Back on the Job

howard@syncrony.com — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:51:00 GMT

The news that Mr Steve Jobs of Apple has recently undergone a liver transplant has been causing some waves in IT and business circles lately. The main issue has been around the fact that most of us were unaware about the operation until a after the fact. The fact that the transplant was kept secret has ethical issues because it potentially disadvantaged any existing or potential Apple investors and business partners.

Why? Because if Jobs had not survived the perilous procedure, his demise would have the potential to change Apple in many possible ways. It would also probably have put some pressure on the Apple share price at the same time as changing perceptions of the company’s future.

Thus shareholders in Apple especially ahve had some understandable reasons for getting upset about the news, despite being relieved at his recovery.

His recovery which is in fact going so well that he is once again slowly getting back to work at the Cupertino campus.