Logic Recap: Smartwatches, Ultra HD monitors, and Robot Museum Guides? Welcome to the Future of Tech

Marketing Team Technology

Was Monday a little boring? Is there not enough interesting stuff happening in your life? Well, go run and get yourself a glass of milk, because this past week in tech is pretty spicy.

Smartwatch?

Not feeling smart enough? Buy a smartphone. Already have one? It’s okay, you can get even smarter with the upcoming smartwatches. On June 3rd, Apple filed for the “iWatch” trademark in the Japan Patent Office[1] and hired former Yves Saint Laurent CEO Paul Devene[2]. There are many speculations about what kind of features it would have and what it would look like, and Apple has filed a variety of iWatch-style devices in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office[3]to keep us guessing.

If the anticipation is too much to handle, you can have a go at the Pebble Smartwatch, priced at $150, which adds a plethora of features to your Android device[4].

[1]. USA Today [2]. ZDNet [3]. Business Insider [4]. Android Police

HD? How about Ultra HD?

For the design/film/jaw-dropping-gorgeous-stuff enthusiasts out there, you can now look to upgrade your HD monitor to the ASUS PQ321Q True 4k UHD monitor, which is available for preorder. Why is it so special? Let me break it down for you: This 31.5” screen is 3840 x 2160 pixels (3840 is where the “4K” came from), giving you four times as many pixels as a normal HD monitor, all packaged in a frame that is just 35mm at its thickest point. While the $3,499.99 price tag might seem a little ridiculous, just note that other 4k UHD monitors come at a whopping $5k – $25k.

Source: Engadget

Not Everyone Can Be A Museum Guide…

Honda’s famous humanoid robot, ASIMO, was hired as a museum guide in Tokyo. It was programmed to reply to about 100 questions and would walk around and gesticulate while answering them. ASIMO has shown to be nimble and able to perform a variety of meticulous tasks, but how would it fare interacting with humans? Overall it made a decent effort, but still had many kinks to work out, such as distinguishing between raised hands and raised cell phones, which were likely to take pictures, not ask questions.

Source: ABC News

Lucky Newbies

While the rest of world waits until 2014 to try out the highly anticipated Google Glass, 10,000 lucky Glass Explorers get to try out the device this summer. While Apple is famous for its design and packaging, Google definitely put up a good fight; a few dozen “explorers” were ferried from San Francisco to a former naval air base and shipyard to drink champagne and eat organic boar sandwiches while trying on their new eyepieces. The group consisted of a variety of users, from computer programmers to backpackers to ballroom dancers. Expect to see an array of blogs detailing these lucky people’s experiences.

Source: USA Today