Google's Smart Contact Lenses

Google has announced that it is testing a prototype for a contact lens that would help people with diabetes manage their disease.

     

A recent report from Credit Suisse Research Institute which estimates that “close to 400 million people worldwide are affected by type II diabetes alone – a number that is quickly rising” and the “associated costs for the global healthcare system are estimated at a staggering $376 billion every year, representing over 10 percent of all healthcare costs.” By 2020 this could be a disease that impacts 500 million people and the costs “could rise to a whopping $700 billion,” the study said.Google’s “smart contact lens project,” which allows the lenses to measure blood sugar levels, for a very brief instant is just exciting. It seemed like that finally we are getting to a place where needles, blood-soaked alcohol swabs and cotton balls are going to be history.

Google announced Thursday that it's been working on this secret project at its Google[x] research lab. Not only has it developed prototypes of these smart contact lenses, but it's also done multiple clinical research studies, met with the US Food and Drug Administration, and is looking for potential partners to bring the product to market.

Diabetes is said to be one of the fastest growing diseases in the world. According to Google, it affects one in 19 people around the globe. In order to keep blood sugar levels in check, diabetics must give themselves finger prick blood tests throughout the day.

The contact lenses were developed during the past 18 months in the clandestine Google X lab that also came up with a driverless car, Google's Web-surfing eyeglasses and Project Loon, a network of large balloons designed to beam the Internet to unwired places.

The contact lenses will monitor glucose with a tiny sensor once per second, and then transmit the data through a wireless transmitter.“Smart” blood sugar monitoring has been in the works for many years, but no one has revealed a reliable fix for the problem. Some academic institutions have also been working on glucose-monitoring contacts.

“We hope a tiny, super sensitive glucose sensor embedded in a contact lens could be the first step in showing how to measure glucose through tears, which in the past has only been theoretically possible.”The chip and sensor would be embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material, while a pinhole in the lens would allow fluid from the surface of the eye to seep into the sensor.

While excited about their prototype, Google warned that there is still a lot more work that needs to be done before it could be turned into a useable product.We’ll certainly be watching to see what happens – and what other technology might soon be packed into the tiny technology of a contact lens.

CES 2014 - A LOOK AROUND

Though CES 2014 had many gadgets that can change the future of the mankind, Here is the list of some amazing and cool gadgets that were showcased at the CES 2014.

1.LG's Curved 4k TV:

                                        



LG's 77-inch flexible 4K OLED TV is one very exciting TV as it lets you control the curvature of its Ultra HD display using the TV remote.The range of curve takes the screen size and viewing distance into account to give you the best viewing experience and even though you won't be able to get your hands on one for a while, it marks the future of curved TVs.

2. Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro:

                                         

This massive 12.2” tablet is Samsung’s answer to both the iPad Air and the Surface 2. Samsung has taken Android and placed what they call the Magazine UX on top of it. While I’m not so certain the new homescreen interface is necessarily the best for “professionals”, it takes the best parts of Windows 8’s live tiles and is a big improvement over most of Samsung’s typical TouchWiz Android skins.

3. Intel Edison:

                                    

Intel showcased a SD-sized computer at CES called the Edison that will be released to developers and designers in summer 2014. It features a processor, memory and flash storage and wants to be help make everyday objects "smart" and internet connected. The Edison can be programmed to manage I/Os and other baseline functions according to the company and it will have Linux and Android support.

4.Sony Xperia Z1 Compact:

                                      

The Sony Xperia Z1 Compact brings a new standard to the "mini" flagship market featuring a downgrade in size but certainly not specs, and therefore rightly deserves to be on this list.It features a smaller 4.3-inch display but with the same Snapdragon 800 processor, 20.7-megapixel rear camera and waterproof advantage of its bigger brother. Plus, we really liked it in the flesh and thought it was much easy to manage than the 5-inch Xperia Z1.

5. Sony PlayStation Now:

                                         

Sony's cloud gaming revolution kicks off with this new Gaikai-based service, which will let you stream PS3 games to your PS4, your Vita – or even your Bravia telly. Yes, that's right, you'll be able to play God of War without a console. Truly, we are living in the future.

6. The Pebble Steel

                                        

We’ve already talked about the Pebble, the smartwatch that just works, and now they’ve decided to launch a new version that does all the same amazing things, but looks great at the same time. You can still get your notifications from either iPhone or Android, you can customize the watch face to look like anything you want, and you can look good doing it.

7.Oculus Rift Crystal Cove:

                                      

The Oculus Rift is one of those prototypes that just keeps getting better and better each time we see it. This year, Oculus showed off their new prototype, the Crystal Cove. This new hardware takes care of nearly all of the problems I noticed with the original—most notably the motion blurring, the resolution, and the lack of head tracking. Now armed with a camera that tracks the movement of your head in space (think Kinect here), the Oculus Rift’s experience is now that much more immersive.

8.Sony 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector:

                                         

Sony announced the 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector at CES 2014, featuring the ability to throw out a 4K image between 66-inches and 147-inches from only 20-inches away. It is a furniture like unit measuring 43.3 x 10.4 x 21.1-inches and it sits on the floor alongside the wall you are projecting onto. We had a look first hand and the image it produces is stunning, plus it looks good turned off too.

9. Mophie Space Pack:

                                                 

The Mophie Space Pack has extra storage for your iPhone along with your extended battery. While it can’t directly extend your built-in iOS storage, Mophie has an app that you can use to access videos, files, and pictures, and you can plug it directly into your computer to load it up with files.We can only assume that in the very near future, everybody will be making cases combined with storage space and the market will be flooded with knock-offs.

10.Panasonic Lumix TZ60:

                                                   

The Panasonic Lumix TZ60 camera seems to have it all, taking many of the core elements that made the Lumix TZ40 so popular and adding to them.You'll find a 18.1-megapixel sensor, along with raw shooting capability, GPS, Wi-Fi and 1080p video capture at 60fps. Plus, it adds a built-in electronic viewfinder to the range for the first time, as well as offering 30x optical zoom with physical lens control ring.

Still there were many more gadgets displayed at the CES 2014...

Intel’s 3-D Camera

Looks like Intel has big plans for the future of computers, and gaming plays an important role in them. The company believes that computer games have the capacity to be one of the most instinctive forms of entertainment, and to that end, want to make use of highly accurate 3D cameras to track user input for the games of tomorrow.At CES 2014, Intel's main presentation discussed the future of computing and spanned everything from productivity to education. Gaming was only one facet of the new face of computing.

Intel in recent years has used its press conferences at the Consumer Electronics Show to highlight new chips and Ultrabooks, this year the company focused on new technology that will allow users to interact more naturally with their computing devices through voice and gesture controls.

To that end, the chip maker introduced the Intel Real Sense 3-D camera, which the company said will boast a facial recognition feature and finger-level motion controls. The higlight is Intel’s RealSense 3D camera. As its name implies, the camera has the ability to see in three dimensions, making it possible to perceive distance as well as capture an image. In other words, the camera works more like the human eye.

Few days ago, Mooly Eden, general manager of Intel's Perceptual Computing unit, stressed on computing needs to take on a more ‘natural’ approach and following that Intel introduced the chip 3D camera, with an index finger sized hardware. This creation is the first offering of the chipmaker’s new "Real Sense" brand of perceptual computing products. Elaborating the ‘perceptual technology’ Eden said " the company wants to develop products that will utilize gestures, facial recognition, and voice recognition to bring in a more natural and intuitive feel while using it " .

                  

    

         

INTEL'S 3D CAMERA IN LAPTOPS AND TABS :

A combined 2-D and 3-D camera from Intel will be built into laptops and tablets. The camera allows a device to be controlled with arm, hand, and finger gestures, and is also intended to allow software to capture and understand the world around it, including people’s facial expressions.

Intel showed seven different laptops and tablets from Dell, Lenovo, and Asus with the integrated depth camera. Such devices are slated to hit the market in the second half of 2014. In addition to PCs, Intel will be using the RealSense technology for 3-D printing; the company announced a technology alliance with 3-D printing pioneer 3D Systems, which will make 3D Systems' scanning, editing and printing applications available for Intel RealSense-powered devices and systems.

Finally the introduction of the latest 3D cameras by intel we can say goodbye to the processors and Ultrabooks and Hello to 3-D cameras and voice controls.

iWatch-Apple's New Creation

Wearable technology, may be a dream in the past but now it is the next big thing to happen- and if anyone can make a truly desirable wearable device, it's Apple.

Apple is rumored to be developing an iWatch, which would most likely sync up with your iPhone 5 or iPad to give you updates on you’re wrist, allow you to control other devices and pull data from the cloud. 

         

                                      

The iWatch project:

Apple has a team of around 100 designers working on "a wristwatch-like device that may perform some of the tasks now handled by the iPhone and iPad". That's based on conversations with "two people familiar with the company's plans".The team includes people from all parts of Apple: not just iPad and iPhone engineers but software developers, managers and marketers too - plus what seems to be a bio metric A-Team that will endow the iWatch with sleep analysis, fingerprint scanners and other health-related sensors.

Apple iWatch features

A further two informers claiming to be acquainted with Apple’s various super-plans say it is experimenting with a ‘wristwatch-like device made of curved glass’,operating on iOS. The NYT notes Corning has developed bendable glass last year called Willow Glass which could be used to wrap around something wrist, and cites Forrester’s claim that “Apple’s certainly made a lot of hiring in that area”.

There are also claims Apple is in discussions with Chinese manufacturer Foxconn, which makes a large number of iPhone and iPad parts, about producing an iWatch. Foxconn are apparently working to make more power-efficient displays and stripping down chips, aimed at multiple Foxconn customers. This Wall Street Journal report also claims Apple has hired employees with backgrounds in sensors and related tecehnologies.

In terms of size, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that there has been no official word from Apple, but that hasn't stopped the web from starting some lovely rumours. The result of such rumours seems to be that we, the internet, are expecting a 1.5-inch touchscreen watch face, that is waterproof and shock proof.

Apple iWatch battery

There are reams of speculation on precisely what tech the device would have under the hood, which at this point may seem like a rumour bridge too far – but certainly one thing that would seem obvious is some form of better battery performance, since you wouldn't want to take a watch off and charge it twice a day like can be required for a smartphone. On this point, some have highlighted a patent Apple owns for wireless charging.

Competition for Apple's iWatch

The wearable watch market could be the next big tech battleground as perennial Apple nemesis Samsung has already confirmed that it has a smart watch in the works.The name of Samsung's watch may have been revealed as well, through a recent trademark filing. If the trademark is to be believed then the Samsung watch will be called Samsung Gear.

Other tech heavyweights are rumoured to be getting in on the timekeeping game too; the Apple watch may have to fight off competition from Google, which filed a smart watch patent last year and was 'confirmed' to be working on a timepiece by the good folk over at the Financial Times.

Also leaping aboard the largely-imaginary bandwagon is LG. Despite launching a disappointing phone-watch thing back in 2009, LG isn't being deterred and finally has an Apple watch baiting rumour of its own thanks to the Korea Times.
And, of course, anything Samsung and LG can do, Sony can do too - the Japanese tech giant has an experimental project called Open Smart watch in the works, putting the onus on developers to create jazzy new firmware for its existing Smart watch device.
On June 25, Sony unveiled its newest smart watch: the Sony Smart Watch 2, which is a water-resistant, NFC-toting Android phone companion.

The unique thing about apple is that 

"Apple, when you look back, is never actually the first. They let a few others, sometimes many others, experiment first. Then, they bring out the killer product that revolutionize the latest technology trends".Another point to be noted is "Apple is always Apple" none can beat them .

Source: techradar ,t3