Frugal innovation, talking watch & more
Go frugal, that's the way forward
Frugal innovation. That's what a resource-poor, talent-rich country really needs. Jaideep Prabhu of the Cambridge Judge Business School studied engineering as an undergraduate in India. Indian innovators are different from their Western counterparts at least in three ways, he says. Firstly, they are frugal. They take costs out of the process, perhaps because they often face resource constraints. Their mindset is very flexible, and they're good at flexible. They might have a plan and are good at switching from one plan to the next. Thirdly, many of their innovations seem aimed at bringing people from 'outside' the formal economy into it. Given the Indian situation, the many people outside the formal economy are a business opportunity. Prabhu gives the example of the $30 made-of-clay fridge that uses the cooling property of water evaporating through the walls of that box, to keep fruit and vegetables fresh for upto five days. Non-stick clay water filters, non-stick clay frying pans, a $200 baby warmer (that deals with 80% of the premature kids needing an incubator but cannot afford one face), telemedicine using smartphones, Raspberry Pi inexpensive computers for children to play around with, etc, are among the other products showcased here. Finance is another issue that needs to be tackled; a lot of people are still unbanked, Prabhu notes. #Frugalscience @JaideepPrabhu http://frugalinnovationhub.com
Pianos for programming
And here comes word of Midichlorian, a Visual Studio extension that allows you to write code and automate VS using MIDI instruments.
That's quite some progress. As we might know, in the early 1950s, humans finally managed to make an electronic machine sing! Computers then gradually became a
helpful and versatile tool in audio production. Today, with digital synthesizers and digital audio workstations, you can produce almost studio-quality record- ings at your own home. You only need the persistence. MIDI, a technical standard, allowed elec- tronic musical instruments to communi- cate with each other, using a digital proto- col. Each message consists of a status byte (indicating the type of message), and some data bytes that contain the payload. Computer keyboards work similar to a MIDI piano keyboard, So messages can be easily interpreted, and a MIDI input device can be made into a handy tool for even computer programming! http://elekslabs.com/2014/06/programming-on-a-keyboard-a-piano
Watch talks to car
Heard of this Apple Watch app that will let you keep an eye on your electric car? channel5.com tells us that the Apple Watch will soon start selling in Apple stores. Already, ELEKS is already working on a way to get a Tesla electric car Model S and Apple Watch talking. "The smartwatch app will let you see how many miles you have left before your car’s battery conks out, and how much longer it’ll take to charge up once you reach a station. And this is all from a simple glance at your wrist," says the report. Should you accidentally lose your electric sports car, the app will also tell you its location and, an extra clue, its temperature. But the Tesla Apple Watch monitor app will need to connect to an iPhone. "We’re a little way off the smartwatch ideal of the future, but bit-by-bit projects like this show us how the Apple Watch might slip its way into our lives. It’s pretty neat, right?" comments this report.
Old radios
Together with 120-year-old chakras, what you can also buy online [ebay.in] is this 50-year old "real old tube radio" made by the Uttam Radio Company. Price? Rs 13,750.
Gadget Diary
With mobiles and more coming out by the day, in new and diverse models, keeping in touch with each can be tough. Check out Gadget Diary on YouTube.com to get video reviews of the new sets on the block. Gadget Diary describes itself as "an online portal which provides you with the latest gadget updates, reviews, smartphone reviews, notebook specs, and much more."
http://www.gadgetdiary.com
TextBlade... and go
Still have work to do, but you have to be on the move? And do you find your laptop too heavy to carry? Well, there's an option on hand. You could work on your phone or tablet with a tiny, handy keyboard. What is surprising is its really small size! It is a portable multi-touch keyboard which can help you type easily. It contains a nano charger which can charge anywhere without cords. You've got to see its video to believe it! http://bit.ly/textblade http://bit.ly/1zCGcEr