More High-Tech Invitations to Take Your Mind Off Road
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Safety experts say the influx of electronics is turning cars into sometimes chaotic â and distracting â moving family rooms.
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Reducing the cost of networking car cameras could result in more safety systems in a vehicle. In Autopia.
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Drained by your commute? Blood-sucking utility bills got you down? Wondering if that tomato in your dinner salad was really organic?The cures to those ills and more may arrive within five years, according to IBM.The company recently released its second annual set of &quot;Next Five in Five&quot; predictions, visions that sketch out a future where driving is a relative pleasure, eco-friendly devices save you money, and super doctors use advanced technology to probe your body&#39;s innermost depths in search of disease.IBM&#39;s contention that driving will become safer and less aggravating may be particularly tantalizing for many.The company said that during the next five years, a &quot;wave of connectivity&quot; between vehicles and roadways will help keep traffic flowing smoothly, drive down pollution, and get you to your destination easier, &quot;without the stress.&quot;This will be accomplished through &quot;intelligent&quot; traffic systems that automatically adjust light patterns and shift traffic to alternative routes, as well as cars that exhibit &quot;reflexes&quot; thanks to communication with other vehicles and roadside sensors, according to IBM.The company&#39;s crystal ball also revealed that the long-simmering trend toward &quot;smart energy&quot; devices will proliferate wildly. &quot;Dishwashers, air conditioners, house lights, and more will be connected directly to a &#39;smart&#39; electric grid, making it possible to turn them on and off using your cell phone or any Web browser,&quot; a company statement asserts.Even the act of eating will take on new meaning, in IBM&#39;s view: &quot;You will know everything from the climate and soil the food was grown in, to the pesticides and pollution it was exposed to, to the energy consumed to create the product, to the temperature and air quality of the shipping containers it traveled through on the way to your dinner table.&quot;The report also suggests that doctors&#39; ability to heal us will become even more astounding. Due to advances in X-ray and audio technologies, doctors will gain &quot;superpowers,&quot; according to IBM. Computers will also be able to compare your health data to an ocean&#39;s worth of other patient records, helping with diagnosis and treatment, the company said.In addition, the company said cell phones will continue to grow in power and functionality. For example, phones will enable users to snap a photo of an article of clothing, pull in results from the Web about the brand and where to buy it, and then render the garment on top of a 3-D image of the user, IBM said.IBM&#39;s list received a measured nod from Edward Cornish, editor of The Futurist magazine and past president of the World Future Society, an organization based in Bethesda, Maryland.&quot;Basically, the five forecasts seem to me to be quite reasonable,&quot; Cornish said. &quot;They&#39;re based on technologies that have been around for a number of years and are simply extrapolations.&quot;The Futurist has released its own list of predictions for 2008 and beyond.The organization contends, among other things, that the world will have a billion millionaires by 2025; the earth is on the verge of a &quot;significant extinction event;&quot; and &quot;nonhuman entities,&quot; such as robots fueled by artificial intelligence, will make more decisions.
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Some video buffs may want to relay their high-definition programming all over the house or take it with them on the road.
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Inhabiting the real world may seem like a mobile, social experience to most people. But for the digitally dependent, riding a crowded bus can be more isolating than sitting in a room alone with a computer.
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By Chandra Devi  HOAX and scams are getting bolder these days leveraging on high speed technology to get faster and more results.
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Bluetooth -- a short-range wireless technology -- is finally coming of age.
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In photo land, a new gizmo extreme white balancing than the traditional white paper. David Becker's PMA coverage continues in Gadget Lab.
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U.S. officials want to see if the same technology that speeds cars through highway tolls and identifies lost pets can unclog border crossings without compromising security.
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A few big brains in Palo Alto want to ease the corporate stranglehold on mobile communication. By Robert Strohmeyer from Wired magazine.
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Cheap computers, blazing fast networks and clever engineers are finding more ways to keep tabs on where you go and what you buy, even what you'll do next.-The Washington Post
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With satellite radio and power outlets for an ever-expanding list of electronic gizmos, there's no denying the modern automobile can be a comfortable, convenient place to work.
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You have new ways to hear--or read--the messages that matter and skip those that don't.
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Roll down the windows. From MP3 players to in-car GPS units, CES products will have drivers cruising with aplomb.
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Do you want to end up on the road less traveled?
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Suited executive by day, raving hipster by night? You might need one of these to facilitate the charade. From Crave, CNET's new gadgets blog.
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A new high-tech computer system that provides pinpoint weather forecasts for specific stretches of highway, tested in Iowa over the past two winters, is attracting interest from transportation officials worldwide.