Minority Report Archive

  • Five things to know about iOS 4.0

    Five things to know about iOS 4.0

    Posted on June 21, 2010 | No Comments
    Welcome to the future, or at least like the first five minutes of it. iOS 4.0 should be available now for iPhone 3GS and newer (post 2009) iPod Touches. Do you have an iPhone 3G or (shudder) the first iPhone? You're SOL, my Luddite friend. Go back to the commune, you hippie. I kid, I kid. Why spend the money if you don't need to and besides, we've been playing with iOS 4.0 for a few weeks now and here are our initial comments. 1. Multi-tasking is still in its infancy - Apple gave developers very little time to really go full-bore on the problem of multi-tasking. As a result, you're basically dealing with a form of proto-multi-tasking that may or may not do what you want it to do. MG wrote about this last weekend:
    The component that all of these apps share is the ability to do fast app switching. What you may traditionally think of as multitasking isn’t the same on iOS 4. Multiple apps aren’t running all of their functions in the background at once — obviously, this would take up resources and eat up battery life. Instead, Apple allows third-party apps to do certain functions in the background now, as well as create an easy way for all apps to save their states to enable this fast app switching.
    So you're not going to go all Minority Report on your apps. You'll be able to switch out of one app - a game, say - to hit a GPS program, but there is no definitive guarantee that you'll be able to swap back into the game where you left off. In fact, Backgrounder, a jailbroken app for background activity, works better than multi-tasking in iOS 4.0 right now.

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  • On the Xbox 360 Kinect experiment and the future of motion controls

    On the Xbox 360 Kinect experiment and the future of motion controls

    Posted on June 14, 2010 | No Comments
    Microsoft has been busy over the last year. It was during E3 2009 that Microsoft blew everyone away with what was then dubbed Project Natal. It promised to bring full body motion control to the 360. We’re getting our first real look at the system at E3 today after last night’s theatrical reveal and, well, [...]

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  • Palm plays on their new-found ability to make good ads with two new ones

    Palm plays on their new-found ability to make good ads with two new ones

    Posted on April 28, 2010 | No Comments
    Semi-transparent smartphone screens floating in front of the user Minority Report style are all the rage right now. Palm started it back in May with their first "Life moves fast. Dont Miss A Thing." commercial. Microsoft had the unfortunate timing of launching a strikingly similar ad just 3 days later -- and then RIM showed up with their crazy impromptu dance club remix of the idea just yesterday. Oh well. Copy-cats aside, Palm's carrying on with the idea. Showing off their new found abilities to make ads that don't creep us out or otherwise turn us away, they've just released two more TV spots. (Heads up: Instead of cute lady people, these ones feature hipster dudes, one of whom seems to be trying to dress like Neo.) Check'em out after the jump.

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  • The Gesture Cube may not be real but it should be

    The Gesture Cube may not be real but it should be

    Posted on February 4, 2010 | No Comments
    IDENT's GestIC technology is a gesture-based interface system and they're showing off by describing a cube of some sort that allows you to turn, twist, and pinch your data in 3D. Each side will have different functions and you can access messages and the web just by slipping and sliding on the surface. This is obviously as real right now as the Yeti but you could imaging something like the iPad in 3D with touchscreens on each surface. It also looks quite striking and the interface is great if you're into high-tech Minority Report stuff. Why you'd want this instead of something that fits in your pocket is beyond me, but there's no accounting for taste. GestIC is described as a new HCI method and has already shown up in some devices. You can read more about the cube here. Click through for videos.

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  • Emblaze’s First Else unveiled in London, promises to be a game-changer

    Emblaze’s First Else unveiled in London, promises to be a game-changer

    Posted on November 24, 2009 | No Comments
    digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gadgets/Emblaze_s_First_Else_is_like_a_phone_from_the_future'; Folks, today might be the day when you start to notice how ancient our smartphones have become, even if they only came out in last few months. Blame Else (formerly Emblaze Mobile) for its confusingly-named First Else, a phone "built from scratch" over the last two years and now powered by Access Linux Platform (ALP) 3.0 -- a mobile OS thought to have quietly died out since our last sighting in February. Until today's London launch event, the last we heard of this Israeli company was from October's Access Day in Japan where it previewed the Else Intuition OS, which we like to think of as inspired by Minority Report. While it's still too early to tell whether the First Else -- launching in Q2 next year -- will dodge the path of doom, we were already overwhelmed by the excellence of the device's user experience, both from its presentation and from our exclusive hands-on opportunity. Do read on to find out how Else is doing it right.

    Gallery: Emblaze ELSE unveiled in London, we go hands-on

    Continue reading Emblaze's First Else unveiled in London, promises to be a game-changer

    Emblaze's First Else unveiled in London, promises to be a game-changer originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Microsoft showing off transparent glass display technology during college tour

    Microsoft showing off transparent glass display technology during college tour

    Posted on November 6, 2009 | No Comments
    Microsoft's research division is hitting the streets and hanging with the college crowd recently. This nationwide tour is showing off some sick technology in an effort that's probably, although I don't know for sure, aimed at making Microsoft look cool and hip to upcoming talent. The demos should do just that too. Think Tom Cruises's person computer from Minority Report combined with Tony Stark's toys from Iron Man.

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  • Amazing Nearest Subway App alters the Matrix while pointing you to the Q

    Amazing Nearest Subway App alters the Matrix while pointing you to the Q

    Posted on July 16, 2009 | No Comments
    If you’re anything like me whenever you pop up from the subway or metro you’re always lost. No matter where I am I can simply stick my head up like a grotesque and hairless badger and find myself in a brave new world, completely unsure of next steps. Luckily, if you live in New York you [...]

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  • Video: Nearest Subway App Overlays Virtual Maps on Real World

    Video: Nearest Subway App Overlays Virtual Maps on Real World

    Posted on July 16, 2009 | No Comments
    Forget Google’s Street View, which overlays a view of the street in front of you on… the street in front of you. No, for a look at what augmented reality applications can really do, and just why a compass is so useful in the iPhone 3GS, take a peek at New York Nearest Subway. The application [...]

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