According to a new report from Pike Research, more than 250 million smart meters will be installed worldwide by 2015, representing a penetration rate of 18% of all electrical meters by that time, up from 46 million in 2008.

(source: PikeResearch – Smart Meter Installation to Reach 250 Million Worldwide by 2015)

Swap you payment on SquareUp

• 0 to $60 in under 10 seconds.

  Start accepting payment cards immediately with Square. No contracts, monthly fees, or hidden costs. Effortlessly manage all the money you take with an easy and intuitive interface.

  Create a Square payer account to speed up and secure every payment. With photo verification, Square users can visually confirm you are the card holder.

• Swipe it.

  Read payment cards from any device with an audio input jack, including your mobile phone. Accepting payments has never been faster or more convenient.

• Pay quickly, securely.

  Create a Square payer account to speed up and secure every payment. With photo verification, Square users can visually confirm you are the card holder.

SquareUp (via Garry’s Posterous )

FlipShare TV

Cisco Systems, which acquired the Flip products in March, has come out with the FlipShare TV –- a set of products that helps people transfer their videos from a Flip camera to a PC and then to a television.

The FlipShare TV has three parts. First, there’s basically a small router that connects to a TV via composite cables (the red, white and yellow ones) or an HDMI cable for better quality. Then, there’s a USB stick that plugs into a home computer. Finally, there’s a remote control.

NYTimes: For $150, Cisco Router Will Play Flip Videos on Your TV

Just an iPhone and a small Chemical Sensor to read your Health status… it’s so interesting and awesome!

The chemical sensing prototype plugged into an iPhone - Photo credit: Dominic Hart/NASA

Jing Li, a physical scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., along with other researchers working under the Cell-All program in the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate, developed a proof of concept of new technology that would bring compact, low-cost, low-power, high-speed nanosensor-based chemical sensing capabilities to cell phones.

The device Li developed is about the size of a postage stamp and is designed to be plugged in to an iPhone to collect, process and transmit sensor data.

The latest-generation of the chemical detector board, about the size of a postage stamp, sensing chip facing up. - Photo credit: Dominic Hart/NASA

Jing Li - NASA Ames - Photo Credit: NASA Ames Research Center

NASA Ames Scientist Develops Cell Phone Chemical Sensor via iPhoneMedicalApps

BateoCamp 3 luglio Venezia

Domani 3 luglio si terrà il battesimo della WiFi cittadina di Venezia. Ancora una volta Venezia si dimostra culla del rinnovamento. Nel lontano 2007 Venezia ha dato vita alla splendida iniziativa 40xVenezia.

Il Comune di Venezia, tramite l’iniziativa CittadinanzaDigitale, ha reso disponibile l’accesso ad Internet tramite HotSpot WiFi in diverse aree pubbliche della città, come indicato nella mappa degli HotSpot.

L’Amministrazione comunale di Venezia ha deciso di realizzare una propria infrastruttura di rete basata su fibra ottica e wireless. La proprietà di una rete a larga banda consente all’Amministrazione cittadina di fornire servizi innovativi ai cittadini residenti, a chi lavora, studia o visita Venezia.
Da lunedì 22 giugno i residenti possono ottenere user-id e password per accedere alla rete Wi-Fi, messa a disposizione gratuitamente dal Comune di Venezia.
Da venerdì 3 luglio Venezia sarà possibile accedere a Internet (gratuitamente per i residenti e per chi vi lavora, e ad un prezzo “politico” per i turisti) e navigare a banda larga su una infrastruttura tecnica di proprietà del Comune di Venezia.

Fonte: Comune di Venezia, il progetto del Comune di Venezia per consentire l’accesso alla rete tramite gli hot-spot pubblici

Che dire, non resta che accogliere l’invito del vulcanico Gianluigi Cogo ed imbarcarsi sul BateoCamp, restando connessi con il mondo!

Int13 – Mobile Augmented Reality

What is Augmented Reality?
Augmented Reality is a new technologie wich provides a mean to blend virtual imaging into the video stream of a mobile device’s camera – in real time. This page presents the related int13 R&D work & projects. We strongly believe that Augmented Reality is a promising idea to enhance the player’s gaming experience in providing exciting new ways to control his actions, through position and 3D moves. Despite their limited computation power, we think handheld devices are the best choice if we want to provide a truly immersive Augmented Reality experience, as most of these devices have a camera on their back, just behind the screen, which is the only way to achieve see-through effect at mass-market cost.

This will be the begin of a new UI Paradigma.

3D Computer Interface from Free Flow on Vimeo.

“Utilizing the theory of electrostatics, we have designed a low-cost human-computer interface device that has the ability to track the position of a user’s hand in three dimensions. Physical contact is not required and the user does not need to hold a controller or attach markers to their body. To control the device, the user simply waves their hand above it in the air.”

Well done guys!

But, if with Web User Interface paradigma there are cultural differences and diffidence, i.e. Arabic or Japanese culture vs. Western culture, with this new interface will arise the new one, gestural kind of.

Just think how we use the gesture for communicate and how many different meaning of a particular gesture we have within different cultures.