TREND REPORTS
This McDonald's Billboard Near Whistler Gives Snow Reports via Espresso Drink Toppings
[Business]
2016/02/21 11:06
Cossette in Vancouver has made another tasty McDonald's billboard that skiers and snowboarders heading to Whistler will think is pretty gnar.The ad uses real-time snowfall data to synchronize the whipped cream or foam levels on McDonald's espresso drinks to the amount of recent snowfall in centimeters at the Whistler Blackcomb resort.The billboard is on Highway 99 in Squamish, B.C., en route to...
(Video) Baby-Carrying Bicycle Transforms Into a Stroller in Seconds - Salamander
[Product]
2016/02/21 11:05
The Salamander can accommodate children up to 46 in (116 cm) tall and 79 lb (36 kg).If a skateboard that doubles as a stroller is a little too extreme for your parenting modus operandi, then perhaps a trusty old bicycle might be more to your liking. The Salamander Bicycle Stroller aims to keep parents on the move by providing a two-wheeled way of getting around town and quickly converting into...
Mitsubishi Electric's "Aerial Display" Projects Images Into Mid-Air
[Tech]
2016/02/21 11:04
An aerial display image (cube at center) with so-called guide images to either side.As soon as the year 2020, you may be seeing advertising or other imagery floating before you. That's when Mitsubishi Electric hopes to have its "aerial display" technology perfected and commercially available. Already, it's capable of displaying images measuring up to 56 inches (142 cm) diagonally, hovering in t...
(Infographic) A Close-Up Look at Gen Z's Mobile Habits
[Consumer]
2016/02/21 11:03
Young consumers are doing more and more through their mobile devices. 78% of post-millennials use social media apps most. A new study from Fluent focused on the mobile habits of the college-aged Gen Z demo. "To relate to this newer group of post-millennials [Gen Z] that are 'always on,' multitasking on more screens than ever before and tempted every second by the next best thing, brands need to...
(PDF) ReFlex: A Flexible Smartphone with Active Haptic Feedback for Bend Input
[Tech]
2016/02/18 11:17
Queen’s University’s Human Media Lab to unveil world’s first wireless flexible smartphone; simulates feeling of navigating pages via haptic bend input.Researchers at Queen’s University’s Human Media Lab have developed the world’s first full-colour, high-resolution and wireless flexible smartphone to combine multitouch with bend input. The phone, which they have named ReFlex, allows users...
(PDF) BCG - Big Oil’s Road to Reinvention
[Business]
2016/02/18 11:17
Restoring Value Creation Through Business Model Revolution. Historically, Big Oil has been a structurally strong value creator, favored by investors for growing and preserving long-term wealth. Global in reach, massive in scale, and able to manage complexity and mitigate risk, leading oil and gas companies have generated superior shareholder returns across the business cycle. From 1999 through...
Oculus Founder Takes Long-Term View of Virtual Reality
[Business]
2016/02/18 11:17
It could take a decade before virtual reality headsets become cheap and portable enough to replace smartphones as the tech industry’s dominant computing platform, the founder of Oculus VR has warned.Virtual reality is tipped to be one of the biggest themes of this week’s Consumer Electronics Show, with Sony, HTC and Facebook-owned Oculus all set to release their headsets in the first half of...
(Patent) Google Wants To Run Elections On Its Website
[Tech]
2016/02/18 11:17
A new patent awarded to Google today hints at a future where we can vote on anything right from our computers. Google’s patent is for a voting system built into its website that would allow users to find who is running for something, and vote for it without leaving Google.com.In the patent, Google uses the example of a fictional talent show,”Top American Singer,” which has amazingly named co...
Star Wars Sputters, Short of Avatar and Titanic Box Office Hauls
[Business]
2016/02/18 11:17
With its box office run about over, the film probably won't break the all-time record.It appears the force is no longer strong at the box office. As it approaches the end of its remarkable run in theaters, ticket sales for Star Wars: The Force Awakens are fading fast. If past blockbuster patterns are any guide, the film will fall well short of the all-time box office leaders, including Titanic...
Healthcare Upstarts Vie To Slow The Aging Process On A Cellular Level
[Business]
2016/02/18 11:16
Overwhelmingly, young adults would rather be healthy (73%) than wealthy (27%), but their distrust of big institutions and burgeoning Health Hacker mentality is inspiring them to seek alternatives to mainstream healthcare. Lately, companies working to prevent aging and the age-related diseases that come with it have been capturing their attention, as they hunt for tech-driven solutions to improv...
(PDF) Cold Plasma Device Safely Sterilizes Cell Phones in 10 Minutes
[Tech]
2016/02/18 11:16
Rapid Sterilization of Cell Phones Using a Novel Portable Non-Thermal Plasma Device.Plasmas are typically hot, often generated by heating gasses to the point that molecular bonds break and ions in large quantities are created. While plasmas can be used to sterilize objects, the heat can destroy the very objects being cleaned. There are cold plasmas though, and researchers at Weill Cornell Medic...
The MiniBrew Is a Little Machine for Homebrewing Beer
[Product]
2016/02/18 11:16
MiniBrew is the world’s first all in one, small batch beer brewing machine. Without the faintest knowledge of brewing, this table-top fully-automated brewing system includes everything you need to make 5-liters of beer in just a week.Making beer at home can be fun, but it’s also a fairly complex process that takes time and know how. But these days there are enough sensors and tiny processors...
