Teacherbytes January 5, 2009

Hydrogen Fuel Cell in your pocket

 

Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies has announced a home device which extracts hydrogen from water. This hydrogen can be then used to power small electronic devices such as cell phones, small gaming devices, personal music players, etc.... No word on how safety is guaranteed but it is green since the byproduct is just water vapor. No word on pricing but it should pay for itself eventually. Source: CNET, Engadget

What will rock 2010

TechCruch is predicting what technologies will be hot in 2010. Tablets are supposed to be all the rage at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. Many experts feel tablets are going to be a niche product but education is one of those niches. What will make tablets successful will be a good interface, easy to read screen for books, good battery life, and good Internet connectivity. Geolocation is where various apps use GPS data from a cellphone and pinpoint your location. Foursquare is one of the most popular apps using geolocation. Whenever someone goes to a restaurant or club, they mark their location on the app and it is saved. Rewards are given to those who frequent an establishment. The problem I have with geolocation is your movements can be tracked. This information can be used against people very easily. HTML5 is a promising version of the programing language of the Web. Video plugins will not be needed because HTML5 is supposed to be video friendly. This should make apps work easier and save me time trying to explain why someone needs a Flash player to run an educational app. Augmented reality could be useful for students working on projects. A picture is taken then information and data can be layered over the photograph. Android and the Chrome OS will be powering mobile devices in the coming years. Both Google products are created for one purpose: access data on in Cloud. Devices running Android and Chrome will be creeping in student book bags so teachers should find a way to make productive use for them.

WoW is how I got caught!

Mashable reported the popular online game led to the arrest of Alfred Hightower after police used information obtained from WoW on his location. More proof to be careful of what you put online.

Putting some muscle behind that program

Microsoft is conducting research on using muscle sensors to interface with computers. Watch the video below:

Source: Mashable and Engadget